


Memories of Love

by Zeelian



Series: The Eternal Universe - Children of the Shamarai [2]
Category: Fantasy - Fandom, Original Work, Science Fiction - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Magic, Artificial Intelligence, Demon Languages, Demonic Bonding, Familiars, Interspecies Sex, Multi, Non-Humanoid Sex, Pack Building, Reunions, Street Racing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-10-20 03:30:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 50,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20668586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeelian/pseuds/Zeelian
Summary: With the seal on his memory broken Takeshi prepares to seek out Hiroto, to find out if he was still the same youkai that he could remember loving so deeply.Fortunately the work on their new home was completed so there was one less thing to worry about, but as always, the Fates had other plans for him.





	1. Shattered Seal

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Three weeks after their not so little party all the furniture was finally in place and Takeshi was sitting at his huge desk, looking around the large study.  
Inspired by the girls he had gone a bit over the top with the furniture, selecting heavy wood pieces in the _Live Edge_ style.  
The desk was a 20 centimeter thick slice of wood cut from a demonic emberwood tree, cut at the point where the trunk split into two, giving him a nice oval shaped desk that looked very much like it was made from burning embers, glowing red and black.  
All the furniture, including the bookcases would be made in the live edge design, crafted from the very same emberwood tree.

“You know Angel, those bookcases will look rather empty.”  
Takeshi looked at the fibreboard mock-up of the bookcases that were decorated with a few cardboard _books_, the materials for the bookcases wouldn't be ordered until he had decided on the measurements and design details.  
“They are less than 10% of capacity so that would be rather natural.”  
The answer made Takeshi snort in amusement.  
“Not into decorating are we?”  
“Not particularly. I understand ergonomic design, complementary colors and such, but there is no accounting for human taste...”  
The somewhat whining answer made Takeshi tut at her.  
“Well, that's the beauty of it, you're allowed to have your very own taste.”  
“I guess.”  
“Would you like to give me a hand and look at bookstores and auction houses that deal in books?”  
“Of course, what kind of books are you looking for?”  
“Well, mainly showpieces that fit the look of this place. Dark colors, leather bound, raised cords, embossing, gold text and decorations. Maybe metal details like corner protectors.”  
“So really fancy stuff, and doesn't really matter what the contents are?”  
“Indeed, though it would be nice with several books in the same style, like maybe an old encyclopedia.”  
“I'll see what I can find.”  
“Thanks sweetie.”

He paused for a moment looking at the bookcases that went all the way to the ceiling and found himself reminded of his childhood study.  
“I think I'll have Sumi-ane ship the texts from my old study back at the Kiryu estate. That section there is about the same size so it should all fit.”  
His old study had contained a mix of traditionally bound books and scrolls, along with his collection of traditional writing implements it should make excellent decorations.  
It wouldn't just be for show though, Takeshi loved old books, real books, but he was spoiled rotten with reading from Angel's holographic displays.  
“I do have a detailed scan of that room and all items in it from our last visit. I could project them for you to see how they would fit.”  
“That's good thinking, please do.”

Takeshi was unsure how much time had passed when there was a soft knock on the door to his new study and he could sense Amanda, Sarah and Maria outside, and smell the tea and treats they were bringing.  
“Come on in girls.”  
They quickly poured inside and while Amanda brought the cart with the tea the twins checked what Takeshi was doing.  
“What's that?”  
“That's a projection of all the items in my old study back in Japan.”  
“Oh.”  
“They look nice in that bookcase.”  
“They really do fit well there.”  
“So, are you going to go to Japan to fetch them?”  
“Nah, I'll ask Sumi-ane to ship everything here instead.”  
“Okay...”  
“You know, you are allowed to ask to go visit Sumi-ane and Logan if you want to.”  
“We know. It's just, there's been so much going on here.”  
“I know.”  
Takeshi ruffled Sarah's hair and nudged the twins to go sit down so Amanda could start the tea ceremony.  
“Will you be joining us as well Angel?”  
“Of course Manda. You know I enjoy tea even if I'm not able to actually drink it.”  
Everyone instantly scooted over slightly to make room for Angel's projection.

“Take, I have been looking into your request, and I would like to make a suggestion.”  
Once they had done the traditional round of tea they settled down into comfortable conversation.  
“What kind of request?”  
Maria pied up instantly.  
“Maria, don't be rude.”  
“Sorry Angel...”  
“Angel, it's okay, you can tell her.”  
Angel's projection nodded to Takeshi and turned back to Maria.  
“Take asked me to help him with looking into acquiring books to fill up the bookcases a bit.”  
“Oh.”  
“So, you had a suggestion?”  
“Well, I have looked into buying old books, but it's hard to find books that look nice, and are somewhat uniform in style.”  
“Understandable.”  
“But I took the liberty of looking into the process of traditional bookbinding. With proper tools and a few good robotic arms I could print and bind as many books as needed. And I could print them to have whatever content you would like.”  
“If you want to do that, then go ahead.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Do you have any ideas what you would like to print in them?”  
“I was thinking that a proper House should have records of its history, all the members and their accomplishments.”  
While Angel spoke her display came to life showing pages of what looked like handwritten text along with images of each of the girls.  
“The Shamarai Chronicles?”  
Maria looked very interested.  
“Something like that.”  
“That sounds like an excellent idea. Why don't you order whatever you need, and have a word with the robotics department about creating some more high precision arms for you, and maybe some specialized tools if you need them.”

“Can I make a suggestion?”  
There was a slightly hesitant edge to Maria's voice, knowing how much the AI loved having a task of her own she clearly didn't want to step on Angel's toes.  
“Of course Maria.”  
“If we are really making Chronicles for our Houses, those books need to be protected so I was thinking we could weave runes into the bindings themselves.”  
“That's probably a good idea. Any specific method in mind?”  
Takeshi gently urged Maria to keep talking.  
“Well, the books will need something to bind the leather over to make the covers stiff, right?.”  
“That's right, thick, stiff, cardboard is commonly used now, but thin wood materials are occasionally used as well.”  
Angel confirmed Maria's assumption about book binding.  
“What if we use sheets of Sanctuary crystal instead, with runes crafted into the structure? Emmy has been teaching me how to combine crystal-shaping with rune-crafting.”  
“That should work very well. It would also allow us to make some rather intricate embossing.”  
“So I can help?”  
“Of course you can.”  
“Thanks Angel!”

“How about you Sarah, do you want to help out as well?”  
“I don't know...”  
“What's the matter?”  
Angel picked up on the hesitation in Sarah's voice.  
“Maria is better than me at making crystals with runes...”  
“That doesn't mean you can't help.”  
“But I don't have anything I can add that you can't do better...”  
“I could always use some taste advice.”  
Angel's reply had Sarah snorting in a rather unladylike manner.  
“Don't worry. If you want to help we will make sure there's something for you to do.”  
“Thanks Angel...”  
“Why don't you girls have a seat and do some planning while I try to get some work done?”  
Takeshi interrupted them to give them a nudge toward working in a more organized manner.  
“Okay.”  
“I'll be right here so don't hesitate to ask if there's something you need.”  
“Will do.”

Takeshi quickly tuned out their hushed conversation and leaned back to think.  
Angel's idea to make custom bound books meant he could have whatever texts he wanted within those covers so he needed to come up with a nice library of good books.  
“Angel, would you care to do some math for me please?”  
“Of course, what do you need?”  
“I need some calculations for how many books would fit into these bookcases.”  
“I need to know what size books.”  
“Of course. Use the Japanese _Kiku_ format, 500 pages of quality paper and 5 centimetres of space above each row of books.”  
“So each book will be 15 by 22 centimetres and roughly 5 centimetres thick.”  
“That sounds about right. And would you give me a projection of how the shelving would look with those details?”  
“Right away.”  
The projection came to life and generated an overlay of how the shelves would look, and displayed a rather insane number for how many books he could fit.  
“Would you exclude the section I selected for my Japanese collection please, and dedicate the bottom shelf of all the other bookcases to folio format books.”  
The folio format was roughly 30 centimetres wide and 48 centimetres high, making it suitable for books with a lot of illustrations such as art books or atlases, it would also be a good format for many Japanese texts.

The projection changed to reflect the parameters that Takeshi had given Angel.  
“Like this?”  
“Much better.”  
“But not just right yet?”  
“No, not yet.”  
He hummed as he looked at the projection.  
“Remove the top two shelves and raise the floor clearance to 20 centimetres please.”  
“Okay.”  
“That looks much better, plenty of room for large birds to perch.”  
“Would you like me to add some crowning? It would give them something more comfortable to perch on, you know they don't like perching on flat surfaces.”  
“Please.”  
He watched the projection change and it was starting to look very good, though at the moment it was just generic wood painted white and red books for contrast.  
“Could you update the projection to live edge emberwood and the style of books we discussed please?”  
“Of course.”

“Wow, that looks awesome!”  
The twins had clearly been paying some attention to what Takeshi had Angel doing.  
“The books look a bit flat though with just plain black leather.”  
Sarah was frowning slightly.  
“Angel, could you alter the colour of the book covers to something less uniform please?”  
“Of course, any suggestions?”  
“Can make it a bit of a blotchy colour with a patina in red and black so it matches the emberwood?”  
“Something like this?”  
A projection of a book appeared in front of Sarah and while she had Angel make some adjustments Takeshi moved closer to have a better look.  
“That looks really good.”  
“Thanks...”  
Sarah blushed slightly at the praise.  
“How about we try it with a more textured leather like crocodile, alligator or snake?”  
Takeshi's suggestion was instantly applied and a number of sample projections appeared.  
“Can we use demon realm materials?”  
Maria was quickly picking up on Sarah's and Takeshi's lines of thought for how to make the books look more alive.  
“Of course. But you maybe you should start with simple human realm ones until you found a good technique?”  
“Yeah, that's probably a good idea.”  
Maria hummed in agreement.  
“Can we at least go to the artisans market and visit the tanner for some samples? So we know how the textures look.”  
“How about I have Sorcha go pick up a nice sample collection instead? Then we can travel there to have a closer look at the ones you like once we have the production details down?”  
“Okay!”  
Both twins instantly agreed and returned to making adjustments to the designs.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Nel, how is the water quality looking?”  
Takeshi found Nelly sitting next to the large, central pond with the water quality kit.  
“All the readings are really good, but I wanna give it a few more weeks to let the floating plants and develop a bit more so the koi have plenty of places to hide.”  
“Okay. This your project, whatever you say goes. Just let me know when you are ready for your koi to be brought here so I can have Sumi-ane pack up the stuff I want at the same time.”  
“Angel, would you let me know when Mandrake have those permanent ammonia sensors ready?”  
“Of course.”  
“Adding to the design already?”  
Takeshi's voice was mostly curious, but also a bit amused.  
“Yeah, I want some proper sensors for water quality since it's open to environmental variables. The koi are going to be pretty sensitive right after they are moved here so even a small issue with the water could be really bad for them.”  
“Easy sweetie, remember, we will be bolstering them with blessed blood during the acclimatization period.”  
“I know, but I'm not taking any chances.”  
“Whoa, easy girl.”  
Takeshi raised his hands in mock surrender, and when she huffed at him he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

“Where is our dear featherbrained mate hiding?”  
Takeshi had a few things he needed to talk to Hugin about but it wasn't urgent enough for him to use the bonds to seek him out.  
“He took Kara and the chick out for some flight training.”  
“Ah, that explains a lot.”  
The teasing quip earned him a sharp jolt of electricity and a scolding glare.  
“She only teases you because she likes you.”  
“I know sweetie. And she's still a crow, they love teasing.”  
When Nelly just huffed and grumbled he tucked her under his chin with a smile.  
“You know, you are absolutely adorable when you're in mother crow mode.”  
“Hmpf...”  
“How **is** our little chick doing by the way?”  
“She's growing really well.”

The phoenix chick was still tiny, and would be for years to come, they had spoken to various experts on the species and they said that a new hatched phoenix chick usually stayed in the vicinity of the nest for about 10 years.  
During that time it gradually became a more proficient flier and gradually became strong and mature enough to keep up with the parents full time.  
It would then take several hundred years for it to grow into a form resembling that of the graceful parents rather than a chubby feather puff.

“Was there something important you needed him for?”  
“Nah, just a few questions about some furniture he wanted. And I could use him and Kara for a bit to see if the new design for the crowning on my bookcases is comfortable to perch on.”  
“Why don't you just shift yourself?”  
“Simple, I'm not the one who will be perching there.”  
“Oh...”  
“Would you ask them to drop by my study and test perch when they return? I really need to get started on dinner, I promised Dan I would make sushi today since Eric wanted to try proper sushi.”  
“Okay, will do. Do you need a hand with preparations?”  
“If you don't mind being put on prep duty, peeling and cleaning stuff.”  
“That's fine, I'm still not very good at the fancy knife skills.”  
“Don't be so hard on yourself sweetie. Your technique is impeccable, you just need some experience and confidence to make full use of it.”  
“I'm really not that good with the whole confidence thing...”  
“I know sweetie, but don't worry about it. You will get there, just look at how much you have improved since moving in with us.”  
“It's frustrating, and I know you get frustrated, even angry, about it too...”  
“I get frustrated because it causes you pain, and there's so little I can do to help. And sometimes I get angry too, angry with Susan for causing this, angry with myself for not finding some way to fix it, to help you once and for all.”  
Takeshi was shaking from the effort to suppress his darker emotions but Nelly just tutted at him and started trailing kisses along his jaw.  
“But you **are** helping me. You know as well as I do there's no quick fix for this.”  
Her words and actions allowed Takeshi to gradually calm down and once he had his feelings back under control he helped Nelly put away the instruments she had been using to check the water quality then they both headed to the main kitchen.

“This is amazing!”  
Eric was acting like a kid in a candy store as he looked at the various trays and platters being placed on the large table.  
“I told ya I'd get you a proper sampling of sushi.”  
Dan was laughing while trying to feign insult.  
“Yeah, but this is...”  
“Silly? Crazy? Insanely over the top?”  
“Duh...”  
“Well, that's kinda how we roll here.”  
“No kidding...”  
Eric sat down rather heavily and shook his head.  
“I have no clue where to start...”  
“Don't worry. Take will give you a guided introduction.”  
“On that note, I have a little something to make this easier.”  
Takeshi handed Eric a small tablet and when he opened it there was a list of all the dishes and sushi pieces that Takeshi intended to have him sample.  
"This way you can rate each piece and makes notes about how you like them, that way we will know what you like and don't like for next time.”  
“I could really use that... And something strong to drink...”

When Eric mentioned something stronger to drink Takeshi offered him a wooden _Sakazuki_ which he filled with a saké selected for its delicate, fruity, scent and mellow flavour, serving it slightly warmed further enhanced those characteristics, making it a good place to start for someone unaccustomed to saké.  
He quickly did the same for Dan and Dan completed the traditional exchange by pouring for Takeshi which caused some curiosity from Eric.  
“In Japanese culture it's considered inappropriate to pour your own saké when in the company of others.”  
“Oh, so you pour for me and I pour for you?”  
“Exactly. It's an action that promotes interaction.”  
“Yeah, I guess.”  
After a quick description of the saké being served Takeshi raised his own sakazuki in a symbolic toast and Eric and Dan quickly did the same.  
_“Kampai!”_  
“Bottoms up!”  
Dan's translated toast made Takeshi mock glare at him before draining his sake in one go and watching the pair in front of him do the same.

“We start with the subtle, light flavours, such as white fish and move our way toward the heavier ones, such as dark, or fatty fish.”  
While Takeshi explained he placed a stack of dishes for soy, wasabi and gari, then bowls of miso soup followed by a selection of side dishes, fresh _Wakame_ salad, live _Sakura ebi_, and a wide range of vegetables in various preparations.  
Dan instantly took a pair of the small dishes and placed some wakame salad on each and topped them with some live shrimp.  
“Sakura ebi is awesome, here, try some.”  
Dan quickly offered Eric one of the small dishes before eagerly grabbing his own and emptying it in one bite.  
Eric gave the squirming dish a bit of a suspicious look before sighing and following Dan's lead.

While Takeshi and Dan guided Eric through Sushi for beginners, the others helped themselves to the wide collection of sushi already spread on the table, as well as pieces that Takeshi made while Eric and Dan were eating the previous sample.  
“Take, are you ready for the grilled pieces?”  
Emelie had been manning the grill while also keeping an eye on how far along Takeshi was with the introduction.  
“Please.”

By the time they were done a slightly drunk Eric was curled into Dan's side and Dan was sporting a very telling smile, the soft smile had everyone cooing and teasing but he was completely in his own little world.  
“So, Eric, how did you like sushi?”  
“Some of the pieces were a bit, well, not to my taste, but most of it was really good.”  
“Well, that was why we made this sampling event for you.”  
“I know...”  
“Is something wrong?”  
“Not really, just, as much as I love hanging with you guys you can be a bit...”  
“A bit much? Overwhelming?”  
“Yeah.”  
“You do know you can always tell us to knock it off if we're too much, right?. We don't want to make you uncomfortable.”  
“Yeah, I know.”  
Eric was huffing a bit but went silent when Dan leaned in and kissed him.  
“You are important to Dan and that makes you important to the rest of us.”  
There was a long silence before Eric answered.  
“He's really important to me too...”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“_TakeTakeTakeTakeTakeTake!”_  
Maria's eager mental calls as her wolf form skidded sideways into his study, nearly knocking the large palm by the door over, made Takeshi look away from the holographic screen displaying a selection of desk and study lamps.  
“What can I do for you sweetie?”  
_“We just finished the first book! Come on! Come look!”_  
She was practically bouncing off the walls so Takeshi just shook his head with a sigh.  
“Hai hai, I'm coming.”  
Takeshi allowed himself to be dragged into Angel's workshop where Sarah was waiting for Maria and him to arrive.

“I hear you ladies have a prototype for me to examine.”  
“Mhm.”  
Angel managed to look every bit as energetic and nervous as the twins as she used a pair of her robotic arms to present Takeshi with a leather bound tome.  
He accepted the book with both hands and managed to maintain a formal air as he carefully weighted it in his hand.  
“Is something wrong?”  
Sarah was the first to cave under her own nerves.  
“Not at all, it's just quite a bit lighter than I expected it to be. It makes it feel a bit odd.”  
“Oh.”  
“The end product should be significantly heavier though. This prototype is made using a lightweight copy paper as it is cheap and easy to buy in bulk. The leather is also a cheaper product that is a bit on the thinner side.”  
Angel quickly spoke up explaining that the first prototype was lighter than what the end product would be.  
“Makes sense. Have you decided on what paper you want to use in the end product?”  
“Not yet, I have been considering using parchment, or maybe something like papyrus. I was looking into synthetic paper, but that feels wrong.”  
“Yeah, we want something really durable but alive, it's easier to add enchantments to a living material.”  
“Then demonic vellum or papyrus should be a good choice.”  
Takeshi agreed with their line of thinking for the choice of materials.

“We still need to perfect the process though.”  
Maria pointed to the slightly buckling leather.  
“Well, using a higher quality leather should reduce the buckling, also, try using a glue with a lower water content.”  
“We have been using an epoxy glue, it's really hard to find a glue that binds to Sanctuary crystal. I would really want to use a hide glue though.”  
“Only natural materials huh?”  
“Mhm... But the hide glue won't stick to the Sanctuary crystal.”  
“Well, have you tried altering the surface structure of the crystal board to make it easier for the glue to adhere?”  
“Oh, I never considered that.”  
“Well, most glues recommend that you rough the surface to give it more surface to adhere to.”  
Maria instantly ducked her head and grabbed one of the crystal boards, showing him the perfect mirror finish.  
“That is really beautiful rune work. But yeah, that surface would be hard to get a glue to adhere to.”  
Takeshi took one of the small crystal grains and shaped it into a flat piece like the boards used for the books before altering the surface until it felt a bit like sanding paper then allowed it to split into multiple smaller pieces..  
“Try this. It's not as pretty to look at, but it should glue nicely.”  
“Okay!”  
Maria hurried over to Sarah with the crystal pieces and together they set out to test the different glues on them.

“Angel. I have been doing some thinking about the idea to create actual chronicles.”  
“Hmm?”  
“Since chronicles will constantly have more information added to them I think you should consider handwriting them using ink and a nib rather than going for a printing solution.”  
“I guess that would make sense. Attaching a nib to one of my robotic arms is easy enough, all I really need is to select a font to use.”  
“Well, maybe you should pick a language first.”  
There was a long pause before Angel nodded.  
“I guess. But what languages?”  
“The main choice would probably be between English and Urui. But there's also the Obsidian script as well as Eternal Night script and Draconic Shadow script.”  
“Tough choice...”  
“Indeed. Sarah, Maria, which language do you think we should use?”  
Takeshi instantly had their full attention and quickly explained what he and Angel had been talking about.

“Can't we make it like the caravan ledger?”  
Maria was turning the writing samples that Takeshi had made over with a slight frown.  
“Hmm, which ones?”  
“The ones with the enchanted ink that changed language based on the reader.”  
“That would definitely be a good option. But I have no idea how they do it.”  
“If we can't do that, can we write it in the Eternal Night script?”  
“Yeah, Lilith's language is so beautiful.”  
The twins were practically begging, and Takeshi had to agree, the written form of Lilith's language was exquisite, graceful and held a mystic quality, and yet instilled a sense of power, just like Lilith herself.  
“I guess we could. We could always make multiple issues with different languages.”  
“Yay!”  
“How about I have Sorcha inquire about how those ledgers are made, then we can have some writing samples sent over for Night-script for Angel to look at?”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Are we all in agreement?”  
He quickly received three nods, then a request to teach the twins how to make their own hide glue instead of buying pre made granulates which he agreed to.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Come on guys, hurry up!”  
Nelly was tapping her foot in a rather impatient manner as she waited for Takeshi and Dan to get the semi tractor ready to go to the airport and pick up the trailer that was scheduled to arrive from Japan in roughly an hour.  
“Easy Nel, Angel is tracking the plane and it's still about an hour before it gets here, and then it will probably have to wait a bit to get a landing slot.  
“I know, but I wanna be there when it touches down. I don't want my koi crammed in those transport bags a moment longer than they have to.”  
The container from Japan with Nelly's koi fish, and the items from Takeshi's childhood study, had been shipped by air freight and the large cargo plane would be given a fairly low priority at Miami International Airport.  
“Don't worry Nel, all the water readings are well within parameters.”  
“I know Angel. I just worry, okay?”

Each bag with koi fish had a small water sensor that Angel was monitoring constantly and the quarantine section of the large water feature of their new garden was equally monitored to ensure the water parameters were not too different.  
“From mother crow to mother koi.”  
Dan's teasing quip earned him a swift jolt of electricity, which of course did nothing at all as he shared that particular elemental trait.  
“Don't worry, we will be there long before the plane touches down.”  
“Not if you two keep dawdling around like this!”  
Takeshi just smiled at her as she snapped at him, her eagerness to see to the safety and comfort of the koi was heart-warming.

“Damn, you think she couldn't find a bigger plane?”  
Dan was staring rather wide eyed as the gigantic military cargo plane touched down and began taxiing toward the large hangar where they were waiting with the semi tractor.  
“Well, not that many planes are able to load a complete semi trailer.”  
“True...”  
“You know, I have actually been on a larger one once.”  
“Seriously?!”  
“Mhm, was this Soviet built giant, initially designed for their space-program but when the Soviet Union fell it was repurposed for hauling oversized cargo, the Antonov An-225 Mriya is still hailed as the largest aircraft in active operation.”  
“That does sound vaguely familiar...”  
“Only one was ever completed, another one was started but was never finished as the Soviet fell mid construction. It's retired now though.”  
“This one is still pretty damned impressive though...”  
“Indeed...”  
“If you boys are done nerding out over planes I could use a hand with the test equipment.”  
Nelly was clearly not impressed which made Takeshi and Dan huff and snicker before grabbing the extra cases with equipment.

The moment the cargo hatch opened Nelly climbed inside and headed into the trailer to check on her precious cargo, visually confirming Angel's readings telling her the fish was in excellent condition.  
“Phew, they all seem to be fine.”  
Nelly had checked all 30 boxes in record time.  
“So, do we have your permission to unload the trailer and head home?”  
“Yeah, let's go.”

Together they carried all the boxes with koi to the isolated pond to begin the acclimatisation process.  
“Angel, is the net screen ready?”  
“Of course.”  
“More netting? Isn't the overhead screen enough to keep them safe from birds?”  
Dan sounded somewhat confused so Nelly began explaining.  
“Oh it is, but this isnt about the birds. Being released into a new pond can be pretty stressing for the koi, and stressed koi can jump out of the water, beaching itself.”  
“Oh. Yeah, that would be really bad.”  
“Hopefully some proper acclimatization will reduce the risk.”  
“Mhm...”

Over the next few hours they worked at a steady pace to unbox each fish and place the bag into the pond to allow them to float to allow the water temperature to gradually equalize with that of the pond.  
Each box was opened and the double bag lifted out of it and the outer bag was removed and the inner bag was carefully opened to allow Takeshi to put a few drops of his blood into the water, once he had the bag was resealed and Angel was left to monitor the temperature and water parameters.  
“These Sanctuary crystals you made have really helped the water oxygen levels.”  
Nelly was very pleased with the small gift that Takeshi had given her, it was based on the same crystal technology that he used for the rebreather diving tanks, circulating water into it and expelling water with a higher oxygen content.  
“Glad you like them. They are actually part of the test run for the new Mandrake consumer product line.”  
“Oh, okay!”

To ensure financial stability for the new Mandrake Group when they no longer had large defence contracts to lean back on they had agreed to start producing consumer products based on their R&D accomplishments, but also incorporating Sanctuary tech as well as techniques and materials of demon origin.  
The major products in the grand reveal of their consumer line would be the generators and garbage processing units in various sizes.  
They had also made plans together with Eric to create upgrade kits for motorcycles to replace old engines and electric motors with inferior chargers and batteries, these kits would be sold through the store that Eric and his father owned.

“Oh, will you be presenting those new quantum computers as well?”  
Dan's head popped up from behind some plants around the waterfall where he was making sure the extra netting was secure so there was no way for the koi to get out of the water  
“Not yet. We will be releasing a few intermediate models to allow the market to adapt a bit.”  
“Ah, okay.”  
“These _Oxycrystals_ will be marketed as aquarium decorations, but eventually we will introduce Sanctuary constructs as well, living decorations that clean and condition the water in the aquarium.”  
While he spoke Takeshi grabbed the next bag floating in the pond and quickly checked the temperature before carefully scooping up the koi and giving it a quick check-up, satisfied that it was healthy he released it into the pond and emptied the water from the bag into the overflow drain between the pond and the walkway  
The water needed to go through the processing plant as it had a few additives in it, including Methylene Blue and a buffering agent to keep the water in good condition and keep the fish inside nice and happy, they had also been treated with a slime coat enhancer to make sure their resistance was as good as it could get.

“There, that's the last of them. They are all in perfect health.”  
“Phew, good.”  
Dan breathed a deep sigh of relief as Nelly would have been devastated if one of her koi had been hurt during shipping.  
“Thanks for helping out.”  
Takeshi and Dan both assured her they were more than happy to give her a hand with the koi.  
“They really are beautiful...”  
Dan knelt down at the edge of the pond and looked at them swimming, scales glistening in the sunlight, the partial shade from the demonic willow trees around the ponds further enhanced their beauty, giving the fish an almost magical play of light.  
“When they were all stuffed into that big tank in the store they really didn't look like much, but like this they're amazing.”  
Den seemed to be almost mesmerized by the koi swimming around which made Takeshi and Nelly share a look, then shake their heads with soft smiles.

“Nel, are you coming for dinner?”  
Takeshi called out to Nelly who was resting against the trunk of the large willow tree.  
“No, I'll be watching over the koi.”  
“Okay. I'll bring you some food.”  
“Thanks.”  
Takeshi headed back to the main house and began piling a selection of food for himself and Nelly onto one of the carts then headed back out to join her.  
“You don't have to stay...”  
“Of course I do, I know you don't like eating alone.”  
There was a sigh, and a huffing glare before she broke into a smile and moved over a bit so he could sit down next to her and they ate their meal in silent companionship.

“Nel, if you are going to watch over the koi like this you should meditate instead.”  
Nelly was making it perfectly clear that she intended to keep watch over the koi around the clock for the first two weeks.  
“Why?”  
“Well, first of all it will allow you to do it yourself without having others help you while you sleep.”  
“I guess...”  
“But it will also allow you to extend your senses and feel them far more accurately.”  
“....”  
“So, how about it?”  
“Okay.”  
Takeshi didn't mention that Kasumi would frequently meditate by the koi pond so the fish were accustomed to the feel of an aura washing over them and had come to equate the feeling with safety and food, making them almost tame.  
“Don't worry. I'll stay with you until you feel comfortable with leaving them under Angel's supervision.”  
“Thanks.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Do you need help unpacking those boxes?”  
Dan nodded toward the large boxes that held the contents of Takeshi's childhood study.  
“I think I rather be alone. There are a lot of memories in there, a lot of emotions...”  
“Emotions you need to feel.”  
Dan nodded in understanding and walked toward the door, but he did pause before walking out.  
“Just remember you have us now, you don't need to do it alone. We won't hold your emotions against you.”  
“I know love, I know.”  
“Good.”  
There was a powerful surge of emotions over the bond as Dan brushed his aura against Takeshi's before walking away, with an intense, protective, love at the forefront.

Opening the first box he found a letter in Kasumi's handwriting, telling him that she had added something special for him in the box of scrolls and he quickly found the unfamiliar scroll-case and set it aside to look at it when he was done with the other scrolls.  
He carefully picked up the first scroll and gave it a thorough inspection before placing it into one of the slots of the scroll section of the bookcase, the design based on that of a crosshatch wine rack.  
The scroll was a handmade reproduction of the famous Tale of Genji that had been a birthday gift from Aoren, the kitsune had crafted both the scroll and the case himself.  
“Angel, add _Genji monogatari_ to my literature list please”  
“Of course.”

Going through the scrolls one by one he allowed himself to flow with the emotions, feeling the subtle, but firm, support of his chosen family at the edge of his awareness.  
It was slow work as he inspected each scroll thoroughly, and ended up reading several of them, and each scroll pulled up a flurry of memories that soon became a storm of emotions.  
By the time he placed the last scroll into the bookcase and turned to the one Kasumi has gifted him it was long since dark outside and the steaming basket with dumplings that Amanda had brought him along with some tea was empty.

Opening the scroll case he was nearly overwhelmed by memories as a distinct scent wafted against him, the scent of his adopted parents favourite incense, the blend was a calming one that also had the added bonus of keeping bugs away.  
Daisuke and Misato would burn it all over the house to protect it from bugs, satchels with it were kept in all closets to protect clothing and it was kept in decorative containers in the bookcases to protect the books.  
Looking closer at the contents of the case revealed a thick stick of the incense kept in the hollowed out _Jikugi_ rod of what clearly was a _Kakejiku_ , hanging scroll, carefully unrolling it revealed a beautiful silk painting depicting Kiryu in her Eastern form.  
He could feel the dragon stir within his soul as he brushed his fingers over the _Hyousou_ , mounting, while being careful not to touch the silk.

“Angel, did you provide Sumi-ane with the details for my study?”  
“Yes, both a scale model and pictures. Was that inappropriate?”  
“No, not all. She is family and I trust her.”  
“She said she wanted it in order to find a suitable gift for your new study.”  
“And she had a beautiful gift made. There is no doubt that Tsukiko has painted this herself.”  
Takeshi's smile was wistful as he allowed memories and emotions flow over him, carefully trying to temper the flow so it wouldn't overwhelm him and make the others worry.  
“Take, I think you should go join the others and continue tomorrow.”  
Angel's soft suggestion made Takeshi look up and give the small drone hovering at his shoulder a gentle tap.  
“And they call me a mother hen.”  
“Well, you are. And sometimes you need one.”  
“Fine fine, I'll head to the den and have a nap.”  
“That's a good boy.”  
The teasing tone made Takeshi huff and give the drone a rough smack, sending it careening across the room, lights flashing in alarm and the moment it regained control it rushed back toward him and slammed into his shoulder, though, with it's low weight he barely felt it.

“Glad you decided to join us.”  
Emelie gave him a soft smile and indicated for him to take the spot next to her.  
“Angel insisted. Stubborn pile of...”  
He grumbled softly, but everyone could tell he didn't mean it.  
“That's a good girl.”  
A distinct huff was heard from every speaker in the den which had everyone laughing.  
“Like father like daughter.”  
Ylian's soft quip triggered another bout of teasing, which soon turned into a friendly scuffle involving everyone one way or another.

“Ouch. Belle! Watch those claws!”  
Takeshi scolded his daughter as she got overeager and dug her sharp claws into his thigh, she was still small, but her claws were already nearly two centimetres long and wickedly sharp.  
_“Sorry...”_  
The silent apology was accompanied by a soft whine and a squirming cub licking at his chin, begging for forgiveness.  
“I know baby, I know. But you really need to be careful with those claws.”  
Takeshi gently stroked her wings, helping her calm down and once she was a bit calmer and reassured he had forgiven her she scampered back to Jenna and begged to be nursed.  
She didn't really need to nurse anymore but she still nursed for a while every morning and before bed, and whenever she got emotionally agitated as it had a strong effect on her bond with her mother and helped her mental and emotional development.  
When Jenna began removing her top the others politely turned their back to her, but Takeshi got up and slowly approached them, mindful not to trigger Jenna's protective instincts and before long he had his arms wrapped around her while Isabelle nursed.  
Nuzzling Jenna's hair soothed his instincts and the closeness helped deepen and reinforce their bonds, especially Isabelle's connection to Takeshi, and through him, the bond to the pack.

“Will you at least eat the main meals with us tomorrow?”  
Dan was being rather pushy about not wanting Takeshi to seclude himself in his study for too long and after a moment Takeshi sighed.  
“Okay love, I will.”  
Dan was still highly agitated and was clearly not entirely satisfied with the promise.  
“How about you bring me some nice snacks and check on me?”  
Everyone could feel Dan's emotions shift and twist before he relaxed significantly.  
“Okay.”

The following day offered quite a bit of sentimentality as he unpacked several boxes of old textbooks and his own notebooks.  
Looking at the neat penmanship in the notebooks he glanced at the various papers on his desk, especially those written in Japanese and sighed.  
“Angel, would you be a sweetheart and schedule some Shūji practise please?”  
“Of course. How much time?”  
“I think starting at 2 hours twice a week would be a good idea.”  
His penmanship had really slipped and he could almost feel Daisuke's disapproval.  
“Okay, I'll have it put into your schedule for next week.”  
“Thanks.”

“About time this is all over.”  
Dan watched in relief as Takeshi grabbed the final box and put it on the oversized desk.  
“It's only been 3 days.”  
“I know... It's just... Your emotions have been all over the place. I don't like.”  
“I know love. And I'm sorry. I tried to shield you but your empathic ability has grown a lot stronger.”  
“Please Take, don't do that. I don't want you to suffer alone 'cause you're trying to protect me.”  
Dan's words were half pleading, half scolding and the raw emotion behind them made Takeshi lean in and trail kisses along his jaw in apology and promise.  
“Okay, I won't.”

Opening the box revealed a stack of larger books and when Takeshi began flipping through the pages of the top one Dan shook his head with a smile and left his alpha to his own devices.  
“Have fun alpha.”  
A soft hum was the only answer as Takeshi had already lost himself in the book, giving each of the pages a quick glance he asked Angel to set up a curriculum for him to brush up on classic art as well.  
He remembered most of them, but the number he didn't remember told him he needed to do some refresher courses.  
Takeshi had always prided himself in his knowledge and skill, and reviewing his past he found that he lost some of his edge, he had spent too much time relaxing and not enough time studying and keeping his skills honed.

Setting another book into the bookcase he returned to the box and found that there was only one book left, his old atlas and he carefully picked the book up.  
Touching it he sensed a faint echo of youki which instantly had him curious, it was so faint he hadn't noticed until he actually touched the book, picking it up he carefully inspected it and found that there was something hidden between the pages.  
Opening the book revealed a large black feather and something about it felt familiar, felt important, and there was a subtle hint of a scent so he reached out to grab the feather to inspect it closer.

The moment he touched it a tiny spark of power flickered then he felt something shatter deep within his soul, a moment later the world came crashing down around him and he suddenly found himself remembering.  
First came the memory of feeling safe, protected, then came curiosity.  
Curiosity was replaced by the knowledge that he was protected, and a teasing aura.  
The next fragment showed a pair of crows carrying gifts and a name, Sora, flickered across his awareness.  
In the next fragment Takeshi found himself back in the onsen of the Kiryu shrine at the night of his marking, watching a beautiful male undress, then reveal himself to be a Karasu Tengu.  
Seeing the male triggered a strong surge of emotions, telling him he was supposed to know that male.  
Then suddenly he knew, he knew who the male was...

“**Hiro!”**

Takeshi cried out, calling the name of his first love with an intensity that carried across his new home, and with it the pain of loss, the pain of knowing that he had been forced to forget his first love, his Hiroto.  
A moment later the shadow next to him shivered, and spat out three of his mates who were instantly at his side.  
“Take!”  
“What happened.”  
“Mate, what is wrong?”  
“Please, give me some space. I need to...”  
Memories were still flickering back into his awareness and it was highly unsettling.  
“Take, Kasumi-sama is calling on the emergency line.”  
Takeshi tried to reach out for Kasumi through the dantai bond but he was unable to focus.  
“Angel patch her through please, on speaker, and inform her that Em, Ylian and I are listening.”  
Dan quickly took charge while Emelie tried to calm Takeshi down.  
“Nii-san! I just remembered! The seal, it's broken!”  
“Sumi-chan, please, can you explain what is going on? Take is too out of it to answer us.”  
“I'll try, it's affecting me quite a bit as well.”

“Before we left Japan, before Take was forced into service, there was a male, Hiroto, who Take loved dearly. When we were ready to leave for Miami Take asked Hiro to come with us, and he intended to accept Hiro's offered courtship. Hiro's youma had chosen Take, and together they had asked Take to become their mate.”  
“So this Hiro was Take's first love?”  
Ylian pushed the conversation slightly as they were not as affected by Takeshi's condition, and at the same time Dan was trying to calm the others who vere arriving one by one.  
“He was, but he was also a highborn karasu tengu, a very rare species, and somehow the elders of his tribe found out that his youma had chosen Take so they intervened and gave us an ultimatum.”  
“What kind of ultimatum?”  
“Either Hiro mate a pure-blood karasu tengu, thus forcing his youma to bond with her instead, forcing his youma to accept her. Or perform the Rite of Oblivion, erasing the memory of his existence from everyone save for the elders performing the ritual and swear never to approach Take or me.”  
“Obviously he chose to be forgotten.”  
“Because once a karasu tengu mates their youma will never accept them being with another. They mate for life, and even trying to be with another will cause them intense pain, it can even kill them.”

There was a moment of silence, but before Ylian could ask any more questions Takeshi spoke up with a strained voice.  
“Hiro chose Oblivion because that would give us hope. He was hoping that I would one day become strong enough to overcome the seal on my memory. Now that I remember him there is nothing the Elders can do to prevent us from being together.”  
“Take, how are you feeling?”  
Dan was obviously still concerned.  
“Better. This is a very strange feeling.”  
“Why don't we move to the den, get comfortable, and talk?”  
There was a slight edge to Emelie's voice and everyone quickly did as asked.  
“Sumi-chan, do you want me to come pick you and Logan up?”  
Emelie quickly offered to shadowtravel and bring Kasumi to their new home.  
“No, I don't think Take can handle having my Kage around right now. But I'll stay on the phone, and he is right here next to me.”  
“Take?”  
“She's right, my instincts are in an uproar, having another male alpha here would be troublesome.”  
“Okay.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Seal_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Take, are you still intending to court this Hiro of yours?”  
“It's been over 40 years, we would need to get to know each other again. And you need to get to know him as well.”  
“What was Hiro like when you knew him?”  
Takara's innocent voice instantly had everyone silent, waiting for Takeshi to answer.  
“You would have liked him.”  
When he didn't continue Takeshi found himself faced with a small army of glares which made him raise his hands in symbolic surrender.

“He was a lot like me.”  
“So, an oversexed perv?”  
“Definitely.”  
“Annoying tease?”  
“Oh yeah.”  
“Overprotective mother hen?”  
“That too.”  
“Totally insane?”  
“Indeed.”  
“Utterly Impossible?  
“Of course.”  
“Horrible?”  
“Yep.”  
The less than flattering traits they listed had Takeshi smiling widely, he could feel their love, their care over the bonds.

“Brilliant?”  
The tone of the questions had shifted from teasing to something gentler, almost sentimental.  
“Yeah, but he would always feign being lazy and a bit of a ditz.”  
“Gentle and caring?”  
“He was. Always so concerned about pushing me into something. He was so much older than me and he constantly worried about taking advantage of my youth.”  
“How old was he?”  
“I don't know for sure, even he didn't know. Based on events he could remember we estimated his age to be around 1800 years old.”  
“You must have been pretty young then?”  
“Chronologically I was 10 when he first approached me, but physically and mentally my development was equivalent to that of a 16 year old.”  
“So, he was a bit like how you were with me at first?”  
Amanda was smiling fondly at the memory.  
“A bit. I was worse though.”

Takeshi quickly found himself bombarded with questions about Hiroto, and his relationship with him.  
“What about you Sumi-chan? How did you feel about Hiro-san?”  
The added honorific when Amber spoke to Kasumi about Hiroto made Takeshi smile and project a sense of pride over the bonds.  
“I had quite the crush on him, and... And I grew to love him in a way.”  
“Love him how?”  
“As you have already heard Hiro-kun was caring, loyal and he loved so deeply, loved without ulterior motives. And I was Kiryu Kasumi, heir to the Kiryu. I constantly had men, males, vying for my attention, trying to gain my favour, and I never knew if they wanted me for myself, or if they were after marrying into the position of head or the Kiryu.”  
“So Hiro-san represented something safe? Just like Logan does now?”  
“He did, and eventually we found a balance of sorts where he was able to offer me certain physical closeness and relief as well.”  
“I thought you said tengu couldn't be with anyone else once their youma made their choice?”  
“Normally they can't, but since Take approved, and Hiro-kun's youma could feel that, it didn't object to him being intimate with me.”  
“Did you sleep with him?”  
Takara's question had everyone shushing and gently scolding her for the personal nature of the question, telling her she was too young for such topics, she didn't agree though.  
“I shared his bed at times yes, and he did bring me to completion, but we didn't actually have sex as such. My true first time was with Take the night he left for the GCTI.”  
“Oh...”  
Takara's rather intimate question triggered another round of questions that didn't stop until Angel reminded them it was time for dinner.

“Nee-chan, would you give Yasu-san a call please? Help him remember.”  
“Of course.”  
“Um, wouldn't Yasu-san remember when you did?”  
Amanda was clearly very confused.  
“The breaking of our seals would not affect other seals.”  
“But Sumi-chan remembered when you did...”  
“That's because we're Dantai.”  
Kasumi answered before Takeshi could.  
“Indeed. When I shattered my seal that echoed over the bond, making her aware of her own seal, and weakening it, allowing her to chatter it before it could recover and make her forget again.”  
“Oh, that makes sense.”

“I guess we need to make quick plans for an extended trip to Japan to find Hiro?”  
Takeshi could tell Dan was struggling a bit with the somewhat sudden appearance of yet another person who Takeshi loved, or at least had loved.  
“No, we need to take this slowly. The memories are still jumbled and I need time for them to settle in. Then we need to locate him, and decide how to approach him.”  
“Okay...”  
“Don't worry love, we will figure this out, and we will get through it.”  
“I know, somehow you always manage to guide me through these things.”  
“Dan, I love you, you are my mate, my friend, my pack, my beta. Of course I will do everything I can to make sure you are safe, healthy, and happy.”  
Dan huffed slightly and blushed vividly.

“How about we start by trying to locate him? Do you remember anything that would help?”  
“He loved street-racing, and would often title himself a _T__ō__ge no Hashiriya._”  
“Eh, what?”_  
_“_T__ō__ge no Hashiriya._ Mountain pass street-racer.”  
“Oh, like in that anime with the tofu kid?”  
Dan's description of the old anime _Initial D_ made Takeshi laugh.  
“Yeah.”  
“So, maybe we can track him down that way?”  
“It's possible. But I don't know if he still drives the same car, it's been 40 years after all so chances are he has upgraded several times.”  
“What did he drive back then? Maybe he still drives something similar? After all, racers tend to have a taste in cars that they rarely deviate from.”  
“He drove a matte black Nissan R35 GT-R with quite a bit of aftermarket modifications.”  
“It wouldn't happen to be the same model as the one you have in the garage?”  
“The exact same... That's probably why I felt so drawn to it when I saw it at that Police Impound Auction.”  
“So somewhere deep inside you were aware of these sealed memories?”  
“Yeah, now with the seal broken I can recall several occasions where I almost remembered.”  
“It must feel really strange.”  
“It's disconcerting, but the memories are slowly starting to slip into their proper place.”  
“Well, you can remember the car, can you remember anything else?”  
“They called him the Crow of Mount Fuji. It's possible he still goes by the same name.”  
“Well, let's do some searching.”  
Dan's overly chipper tone revealed that it was not his favourite thing to do.

“I think our best chance will be looking into fan pages. They upload a lot of images and video-clips from the races.”  
Angel quickly made her suggestion to try to help them speed up the search.  
“Yeah, that's probably a good place to start. Could you do a dedicated search?”  
“Of course, any specific focus?”  
“Lets settle for a few keywords, starting with Tōge and Crow of Mount Fuji.”  
Takeshi paused for a moment.  
“Add the Mazda Turnpike at Hakone Mountain, it was one of his favourite places to drive outside of Fuji. Also try to see if you can find old stuff.”  
“Timeframe?”  
“Around 2013 to 2018.”  
“Okay, searching.”  
“Thanks.”

“Take, if he's that much into racing, maybe that would be a good way to meet him?”  
“Hmm?”  
“Well, if we find him chances are he's still racing, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Then we could head out to the popular race spots and see if we can't run into him.”  
“Definitely an option worth looking into.”  
Takeshi hummed in agreement.  
“Maybe we should trick out that car you bought and challenge him to a race, without telling him you remember.”  
“My my Dan, that would be downright devious.”  
“Well, based on how you have described him it sounds like something he would get a good laugh out of.”  
“Yeah, you're right, he would love it.”  
The conversation quickly delved into what could be done with the old GT-R to turn it into a competitive Tōge machine.

“Take, I think I have found something, a very old mobile phone video tagged as _Crow on Hakone_. The car featured is a matte black R35 GT-R.”  
“Please, show me.”  
There was a strong sense of urgency in Takeshi's voice.  
“Of course.”  
They watched the low quality footage showing several cars getting ready to race.  
“That definitely looks like Hiro's car.”  
Takeshi's energy was almost giddy as they watched the race, then came an edit point and the footage changed into showing the finish line.  
“It's him, that's Hiro.”  
Takeshi reached out toward the screen when it showed the driver of the winning car stepping out of the vehicle to thank his opponent for a good race, and receive the money he had just won.  
“Wow,_ läckerbit!_”  
Dan's reaction made Takeshi smile and turn to him.  
“Yeah, highborn youkai tend to be seriously good looking, and even among those the karasu tengu are considered to be among the best looking.”  
“I can see how being wooed by that could pose a serious risk of scrambling the brains of an hormonal teen.”  
The teasing quip had Takeshi laughing before pouncing at Dan and kissing him to shut him up.

“Ehem...”  
The holographic display had shifted to Angel's _Angelica_ persona, who was currently sporting a very _pissed off librarian_ look.  
“Ah, sorry Angel. You had more?”  
“I do.”  
“Then please, continue.”  
“It was poor quality, but by analysing the footage frame by frame I was able to build a composite image of the license plate.”  
“That's great! What did you find out?”  
“The car is still in traffic and has gone through several inspections for modification and engine changes, and is currently equipped with the latest high performance motor. There has been several owner changes, but those are clearly ruses.”  
“Angel, are you holding out on me?”  
“Would I do that?”  
“In revenge for me cutting you off in order to smooch Dan, hell yeah you would.”  
“You know me far too well.”

Moments later the screen came to life, this time showing high quality drone footage dated just 6 days ago showing another race at Hakone.  
“Wow, he's good...”  
Dan was clearly impressed by Hiroto's skill as a driver.  
“Yeah, he is.”  
“Is he the one who taught you?”  
“Yeah, the first time around. Then I forgot about it, but when I started learning it the second time it allowed me to learn really fast.”  
“Since you already knew it and really just needed a reminder?”  
“Mhm.”

“Damn, that ride looks sweet.”  
The drone camera moved in and filmed some close-ups of the car which had Takeshi and Dan both agreeing that it looked really good.  
“Angel, can you dig up any data on it that would give a hint of it's true performance?”  
“I will do what I can. Do I have permission to send a few drones to Japan to have a closer look?”  
“Yes, but be careful, make sure it's drones manufactured at Mandrake, ones that I have never touched, or been a part of creating.”  
“So he can't sense you on them?”  
“Exactly.”  
“As you wish.”  
“And while you're at it, would you give O'Reilly a call and let them know that I will need them to rebuild a R35 GT-R for competitive Tōge racing please?”  
“Of course. I'm sure they will love the challenge.”  
“Oh, and let them know it doesn't need to be street legal, and I want it to be tricked out, and a really fancy paint job.”  
“Let me guess, a black dragon?”  
“Naturally.”  
“I will let them know, and I will start compiling suitable images.”  
“Limit yourself to Eastern Dragons. I want one on each side of the car.”  
“Maybe base it on Kiryu-sama?”  
“Yeah, go ahead with that. We can always change it if it becomes too obvious.”

With a basic plan laid out Takeshi and Dan joined the others to show the footage they had found of Hiroto.


	2. Shattered Soul

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Soul_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Good morning Alpha.”  
The slightly impish tone had Takeshi somewhat worried, especially since he could sense that everyone else had already gotten up, leaving him alone in the den with the twins, but he opened his eyes anyway.  
“Morning girls.”  
Looking around revealed several trays with all of his favorite breakfast treats.  
“Okay, what are you girls up to?”  
The suspicious hint in his voice wasn't entirely feigned as such offerings tended to mean they were up to something, or wanted something they didn't think he would agree to without an argument.  
“For once, nothing.”  
Maria snickered and offered him a cup of green tea and a carefully wrapped _Chimaki_, a fairly simple treat made from steamed glutinous rice.  
“We just wanted to give you an extra nice breakfast after everything that happened last night.”  
“Thank you sweetie. I'm sorry.”  
“Don't worry. It's usually well deserved.”  
Sarah and Maria both laughed, for once showing their true age.  
“Indeed.”  
He teased softly while unwrapping his treat and taking in the scents that bloomed once the bamboo leaf was opened, the expectant looks he was receiving told him that the twins were expecting him to guess what the filling was.  
“This smells really good. A distinct smoke scent and something slightly sweet and sour...  
Both girls were squirming slightly as he picked the scents apart.  
“Smoked shrimp and pineapple?”  
“See, I told he would get it right.”  
“His nose is way too good.”  
The grumblings made him smile and take a bite from the sticky treat.  
“It's really good.”  
Both of them instantly broke into brilliant smiles before making a somewhat impatient gesture toward the rest of the food.

After a long and leisure breakfast Takeshi turned to the twins who had joined him to eat their own breakfasts.  
“Gochisousama deshita.”  
The formal words had both of them blushing slightly.  
“You girls really outdid yourself this time. It was amazing. I especially enjoyed the _Genmai Ochazuke, _the_ H__ō__jicha, _was a nice touch It went really well with the _Shirasu,_ _Karasumi, Ikura_ and _Umi._”  
The somewhat puzzled looks told him they didn't remember the Japanese names for the dish.  
“The brown rice bowl with roasted green tea topped with those tiny whitefish, dried mullet roe, cured salmon roe and sea urchin.”  
“Oh.”  
“You really liked it?”  
“Mhm, it was really well balanced. You girls are learning Japanese cooking really well, and you have learned to cater to my tastes perfectly.”  
After another round of blushing he helped them gather the dishes and get them cleaned up before joining the others in the garden.

Takeshi instantly found himself facing a stampede, but fortunately Emelie stepped in and took charge.  
“Take, how are you feeling?”  
“Better, still a bit tired though.”  
“And your memories?”  
“A bit garbled, but I think it's all there, and mostly in the proper order.”  
“Good, you had me a bit worried for a bit when you didn't wake up when the others got up.”  
“I'm sorry love.”  
He quickly turned to the others as well.  
“I'm really sorry I made you worry.”  
They quickly assured him he was forgiven while mock threatening him with untold horrors if he ever did it again.  
“And thank you, all of you, for keeping watch over me while I slept.”  
Most of the girls looked slightly surprised that he knew they had all stayed awake to watch over him as he slept, but he knew he wouldn't have been comfortable to do so if they hadn't.  
Takeshi took the time to thank them one by one, giving each of them a proper kiss, even Takara got a quick peck on the lips rather than the normal forehead kiss, something that left her tails puffed and her face bright red.  
Giving Isabelle her quick peck earned him some playful swats from her over sized paws, something that soon had everyone cooing and teasing.

“Take, can you tell us more about Hiro?”  
Alice said what they were all clearly thinking.  
“I could, but remembering Hiro I remember someone else that I think you would all love.”  
“Who?”  
“A clever little crow hanyou called Sora.”  
“Crow?”  
Kara instantly perked up.  
“Yes. She was half lesser karasu youkai, and half mortal crow. Hiro had been her caretaker since she was a fledgling and on my 9th birthday he entrusted her into my care so that she would be able to carry messages between us, a means to get to know each other a bit better without actually meeting.”  
“Kara met a hanyou once when Kara had just learned how to fly, but female seemed scared of crows and flew away.”  
“Well, hanyou are unfortunately often mistreated by both mortals and youkai, making them avoid both.”  
“Could the hanyou Kara met have been Sora?”  
“It's possible. Your flock lived in Ginza so if Hiro went to Ginza for something Sora would be flying around the area, keeping herself hidden.”  
“Kara want to know more about Sora.”  
“I had a feeling you would.”  
Kara began circling the gathered group, a clear sign she was somewhat agitated but everyone was used to it and Nelly quickly set up a portable perch next to Takeshi to allow Kara to be front and center for the upcoming stories.

“She ate all the meat from your food and tried to feed you maggots instead?”  
“Mhm.”  
“Well, I guess there's no doubt she's a crow then.”  
Nelly gave Kara a fond glare.  
“Kara only did that once!”  
“You ate my wakame salad and replaced it with grass and ants...”  
“Sorry...”  
“And then there was that time you ate my grilled mackerel and replaced it with a pile of sprats.”  
“Kara didn't mean to make Nel upset...”  
“I know sweetie.”  
Nelly reached out and ruffled the feathers on Kara's head.  
“You are wild hatched, you had to fight for food, steal and scavenge. Even if you get used to not needing to do that it never fully goes away. You were just trying to apologize and replace what you had eaten.”  
Kara's soft caws were apologetic and Nelly quickly leaned in and gave her a kiss on the beak which made her puff up until she looked very much like a feather ball with a beak.  
“Aw, _sötnäbb_.”  
Dan cooed teasingly at Kara which earned him a huffing caw, and a few confused looks wondering what he had called her.  
“_Sötnäbb_ is a play on words based on the Swedish word _Sötnos_ which means cutie, though the literal translation is cute snout or cute muzzle.”  
Emelie stepped up and gave them a quick translation.  
“So _söt_ means cute?”  
“That's right Kara, it also means sweet. And _Nos_ is what we call the nose or snout of an animal, and _Näbb_ is that cute little thing stuck on your face.”  
Emelie gave the aforementioned part of Kara's anatomy a gentle tap with a clawed finger.

“When can Kara meet Sora?”  
“I don't know sweetie. We have located Hiro, but I need time to prepare before we go meet him.”  
“Okay, Kara can be patient. Kara don't like it, but Kara can do it.”  
“Of course you can.”  
“How long will Kara have to be patient?”  
The very obvious impatience of the question had everyone laughing, then look expectantly at Takeshi.

“Like I said, we have managed to locate Hiro thanks to his love for street-racing, especially the Japanese tōge races.”  
“What's that?”  
Nelly was pretty good at Japanese, but tōge was not a word that was commonly used in casual conversation so they simply had not come across it before.  
“Tōge means pass, as in a narrow, winding road. In a racing context tōge refers to the mountain passes which are popular for drift style racing.”  
“Oh, okay. Angel, would you add some vocabulary exercises to my schedule please? Specifically racing related words.”  
“Of course, anyone else want a crash course in tōge racing while we're at it?”  
It didn't take long before everyone was signing up.  
“Kara don't understand. Why wait to go to lost flock member?”  
“Well, this is not so easy for me. I loved Hiro very much, then I was forced to forget him. Now that I remember again I need some time to come to terms with things.”  
“What will Take do while waiting?”  
“I'm going to make plans and preparations for seeking him out.”  
The way Kara tilted her head was a clear question, asking him to elaborate.

“I'm going to challenge him to a race on his favorite tōge, the Mazda Turnpike at Hakone. And with any luck, kick his ass.”  
There was instant laughter and cheering, but Takeshi carefully hushed them.  
“Now girls, this means that once the car I'll be driving has been modified I'm going to have to go to Japan to practice.”  
The mood instantly dropped, all of them understanding the implications of his words.  
“And we can't come with you...”  
“That's right, I'm sorry. I don't want Hiro to recognize me so in addition to avoiding the areas where he is currently racing I will be using my shift to alter my looks, and a masking charm for my aura. Hiro has probably kept an eye on me, making him aware of what sort of group I usually travel with.”  
“Dan will be the beta at your side, right?”  
Amanda's voice was calm, she clearly understood why it needed to be Dan.  
“Yeah, he's better suited for this one.”  
“I know.”  
Takeshi looked at the somewhat solemn group and considered how to improve their mood, make them feel apart of what was happening.

“How about you girls help Angel come up with a few suggestions to make my car look really badass?”  
“Which car will you be using?”  
Melissa's question had merit, they did have several cars that would be suitable for tōge racing.”  
“I'm going with the R35 GT-R.”  
“Isn't that one a bit heavy?”  
“It is, but it happens to be the exact same model that Hiro races with. There is no way he will be able to resist a challenge from someone driving the same car as him.”  
“Oh, okay. It's going to be black, right?”  
“Mhm, and I want a nice Eastern dragon motif.”  
“Like Kiryu-sama?”  
“Mhm. But I do need a few that don't look like her too.”  
“By the way, Take, will you be putting stuff like skirts and big ass wing on it?”  
It was obvious by the tone of Dan's voice that he was not a fan of big wings on cars.  
“Well, we do need a proper body kit to make sure the increase in power doesn't make the car too hard to control. But don't worry, it won't be with one of those huge rear wings. I was thinking of making use of that nanocomposite that they have cooked up in cybernetics combined with Sanctuary crystal.”  
“Phew... Those are seriously fugly...”  
“Dan...”  
“I know, language...”  
Dan grumbled, and for once he dropped to the ground and started doing pushups much to the girls amusement and Takeshi sent him a flicker of gratitude for the obvious morale raising stunt.

“Using that stuff means it will be able to change shape, right?”  
“That's right Julia. Angel will be able to control the shape of the body kit on a nano scale, making it possible to adjust the drag and lift on the fly.”  
“Can we add stuff like lights and underglow? Or would that add to much weight?”  
Melissa was still somewhat concerned about the weight of the car.  
“You go as crazy as you want as long as it doesn't mess with the aerodynamics. Just the engine replacement will cut a lot of weight from it. The steel and aluminum of the body will be replaced too, and parts of the steel frame will be removed and the remaining frame reinforced with Sanctuary crystal, again cutting a lot of weight.”  
“So not a big concern then?”  
“No. Like I said, the only concern is aerodynamics.”  
“Okay.”  
“Angel, would you give them a projection to work with please.”  
“Of course.”  
A full scale projection of the R35 appeared above the water of the pool and several smaller scale models were projected in front of the girls.

“Dan, would you give me a hand and prep the R35 for shipping?”  
“Sure.”  
They quickly loaded the car into a freight container and transported it to the airport where it would be picked up and transported to the Mandrake facility in Honolulu to be stripped and prepped for the upgrades.  
When they got back home they found that the girls had already made several suggestions for making the R35 look as mean as it would become.  
“Alpha, can we just do a Sanctuary crystal skin rather than a normal paint job?”  
Julia ambushed Takeshi the moment he set foot in the garden.  
“I guess we could. Why do you want that?”  
“Angel, would you run project simulation C3NL for me please?”  
“Of course Julia.”  
The full scale projection hovering over the pool became completely black for a moment, then a pair of dragons appeared on the sides and the manes began to glow red and flicker, and both heads breathed fire.  
“♪♫♪!”  
Dan's sharp whistle made it perfectly clear how he felt about the look.  
“Indeed, that looks amazing. What method were you thinking of using to accomplish it?”  
“Well, basic flex screen tech is too thick, and if made thin enough, too fragile, but the nanodrones all have lights that Angel can control and are really durable. So I was thinking of adapting that into something similar to those ultrathin flexes.”  
“Allowing us to display any image we want, while still having the durability of a Sanctuary crystal coating.”  
“Mhm...”  
“That really good thinking.”  
Takeshi didn't mention that that was how he had intended to do it from the start, instead he allowed Julia to claim the idea, it would be good for her confidence, and he was pretty sure at least a few of the others were aware but didn't mention it for the same reason.

With the prospect of the design of the car allowing it to display any image they want several different suggestions were quickly worked up and presented to Takeshi.  
“Oh, is that Yami?”  
“Well, Yami stood model for us, but it's supposed to be you.”  
The twins' design sported a shadow wolf running along the sides, and on the hood was the same wolf howling at a red, full moon.  
“It's a really nice idea.”  
“Thanks!”  
The twins practically chirped before bouncing back to their seat and starting work on more designs and as soon as they left Nelly approached.

“Ah, and what does my beautiful little mate have to show me?”  
There was an instant blush before she spluttered and asked Angel to put her design on the display.  
The hologram once again went completely black before the new design appeared, this time it was a pair of large black wings, shoulders just over the front wheels and stretching backwards.  
“Nice.”  
When the projection rotate to show the front view there was another appreciative hum as it depicted a scene with Hugin and Munin sparring in their true form, Hugin with his twin blades and Munin wielding the larger obsidian sword that was the weapon of choice for the guards, and both were wearing royal armor.  
“That's a really nice one too.”  
“I made an alternative design for the hood as well.”  
When Nelly spoke the display changed to a pair of flared wings across the hood which reminded him somewhat of the Firebird hood design, it was far more elaborate though.  
“That looks really nice too.”  
“We made one of Em too!”  
The image quickly changes into leather wings, and Emelie in a very suggestive pose on the hood which had Dan snickering, and Takeshi growling slightly.  
“Oh, possessive are we?”  
“A bit.”  
No one took it in a bad way though, instead everyone found his reaction to the idea of driving around with Emelie on the hood quite amusing.

“At least put some clothes on her...”  
“Aw, since when are you such a prude?”  
Emelie's mock complaint made him sigh and shake his head.  
“Well, I would be driving in public, and the race events are popular with teens. A very naked, very provocative, succubus might not be all that appropriate.”  
“I guess my design featuring Jackal is out then.”  
“What design?”  
Takeshi was instantly all ears as chances were good it was something based on Jackal's tattoo.  
“Well, it would hardly be appropriate.”  
“Hey! Just cause it's not suitable for public roads doesn't mean I can't enjoy it in private...”  
“Hmm, what do you say girls?”  
Emelie's teasing question made Takeshi even more curious.  
“I guess that's okay.”  
After a few minutes of teasing deliberations they agreed to show him the design.  
_“Itadakimasu...”_  
Takeshi's teasing quip at the design had everyone laughing and teasing him in return.  
The image was seriously delicious though, the sides sported Jackal in his jackal form, and on the hood was a seriously hot image of Jackal in his _Anubis_ form.  
“You girls really managed to make a mouthwatering image.”  
“Told ya the perv would love it.”  
Anne quipped and the others laughed.

“You girls have anything else to show?”  
“Nothing right now, but we're working on it.  
“Have fun then.”  
He left the girls to their own devices and headed to his study to have a long talk with Yasu about Hiro.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Soul_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“I'm getting really worried...”  
A week after the breaking of the seal Takeshi was still sleeping extremely much, to the point of being excessive even for a human, and it had everyone concerned.  
“I'm with Nel, something's wrong. He feels odd over the bond.”  
Dan was quick to agree.  
“What about you Em? What does the soulbond tell you?”  
“It feels odd. It's as strong as ever, but it's... I don't know how to explain it.. Fluctuating, twitching, like it's trying to become something else.”  
“Indeed, the breaking of that seal must have caused some kind of side effect.”  
The fact that Ylian was agreeing only made the others even more worried.  
Emelie gave her beloved soulmate a long look, then sighed deeply.

“Everyone, I need you to get ready to head out to the Obsidian Halls tomorrow. We will consult with Lucifer's healers.”  
“What if Take doesn't want to? You know how he is about being examined...”  
Dan was somewhat hesitant, but Emelie stepped up and took charge before his hesitance and worry spread and made matters worse.  
“We won't give him any choice. He won't go against the determination and fear of the pack. Remember, our alpha is every bit as much our concern as we are his. The alpha supports and protects the pack, and the pack supports and protects their alpha.”  
Emelie's words soothed Dan's worries, and as he calmed down the others keyed of him and began relaxing as well.

“Good morning Alpha.”  
“Morning..?”  
Emelie's greeting instantly had Takeshi on edge, something was clearly going on.  
“Get in the shower and get ready to head to the Obsidian Palace, you are seeing the royal healer today.”  
“Come on sweetie...”  
“No. Everyone is worried, we're going there, and you **will** see the healer, that's final.”  
“But...”  
“No buts! Get you ass moving!”  
The sharp hiss and flare of Emelie's wings and aura made Takeshi bare his fangs at her, but the sharp torrent of emotions that followed, concern, fear, and a hint of pain, instantly made his temper deflate and with a soft whine he submitted and began trailing kisses along her jaw.  
“It's okay love, I know you don't mean to make us worry. But sometimes you try a bit too hard to seem invincible.”  
“I'm sorry...”  
Takeshi quickly excused himself and headed toward the master bedroom to get a shower and a change of clothes and when he was done he could feel the others gathered by the mist fountain so he headed there and found them waiting for him.

“Come on, let's head out. We will eat there.”  
“Yes alpha!”  
The replies were teasing and the mood deceptively light.  
“Oh, you're coming along too Eriko?”  
“As Take's adviser his health is my concern.”  
“Okay. Angel, you have the place all to yourself while we are gone.”  
“How long will you be gone?”  
“Not long, remember the chronoshift. We should be back today.”  
“Okay. I'll make sure everything is still here when you get back.”  
The slightly teasing response had everyone smiling, but the mood still held a somber undercurrent.

A soft flare of Emelie's aura called on the mist within the large waterfall fountain and it quickly spread across the basin beneath it, opening a pathway to the Obsidian Halls.  
The moment they arrived in the mistpool in the inner palace Munin hurried over to the nearest guard and spoke rapidly in the obsidian language.  
_“House Shamarai requests an urgent meeting with the Royal Healer.”_  
Takeshi huffed at the urgency part of Munin's request but he wisely kept his silence, Emelie was in an unusually aggressive mood and he really didn't want to risk her ire.  
The guard quickly chirped a few orders sending one guard toward the healers' wing before turning to Takeshi and the others and switching to Urui.  
“Unless there is something else you need you can wait in your suite, the healer will be with you as soon as he can.”  
“Thank you.”  
There was a slight darkening of the guard's skin, he was clearly not used to being thanked for doing his job.

They had only waited about 5 minutes when the healer was announced by the guard at the entrance to their suite.  
“Ah, Shamarai-yemo, what have you managed to get yourself into this time?”  
The older healer looked at Takeshi and tutted while gently probing his aura.  
“You make it sound like I'm some sort of a troublemaker...”  
Takeshi groused in good humor, over the years he had grown to deeply respect the old angel, and considered him a friend.  
“You can hardly deny being a magnet for all kinds of strangeness.”  
“Well, I could, but I prefer being honest.”  
The healer just smiled and shook his head.  
“Now go on, tell me what has happened this time. And drop your shields while you're at it.”  
Takeshi carefully began unwinding his aura and relaxing the spiritual shields that protected his soul.  
“A week ago I broke a memory seal that had been placed upon me when I was young. Ever since I have been extremely tired, sleeping more than even a mortal human should.”  
“I see. Do you know what kind of seal was used?”  
”I'm unfamiliar with the specifics, but it's called the Rite of Oblivion, it essentially erases an individual from all memories except for the memory of those performing the ritual.”  
“That sounds like powerful, and dangerous, magic. It is foolish at best to mess with the soul in such a way.”

“Can you tell what's wrong?”  
Emelie's voice carried the concern of everyone gathered and the healer gave Takeshi a questioning glance.  
“It's okay, I won't hide anything from them.”  
“Are you aware that your alpha is a chimera?”  
“He is?”  
All eyes turned to Takeshi.  
“Not physically, he means that my soul consists of several soul fragments, human, demon, maybe other things as well. It's what allows me to be able to access such a wide range of abilities.”  
“Oh.”  
“I don't know what that has to do with this though...”  
“When you were changed by The Avatar of Life these fragments began to grow, become true souls, and now, they are merging, becoming a single soul. Somehow the seal must have kept them separated. So now you are in essence suffering from a fractured soul.”  
“Is it dangerous?”  
Takara voiced her fears.  
“It can be, but your alpha is very strong so he will heal.”  
“How long will he be like this?”  
Emelie's question was slightly sharp.  
“If left untreated it will take several years for him to recover. But with proper treatment he should recover significantly faster.”  
“What kind of treatment, and how much faster?”  
Takeshi's voice held the familiar edge of rebellion he always voiced when his own health was discussed.  
“You could look at it like a massage, but for your soul rather than your body. And how much faster would depend on how well you respond to the treatment, and how frequent treatments you get.”  
Takeshi was about to start his usual act of trying to weasel his way out of medical treatment but the instant glares from his loved ones shut him up before he got started so with a huff he allowed the healer to gently manipulate his energies, touching the inner core of his aura.

“You seem to be responding well to it. How do you feel?”  
“Still tired, but the drain on my reserves has lessened.”  
“Excellent, that is what I was hoping would happen.”  
“So, how often should he be getting treatments?”  
Takeshi flashed his fangs at Emelie, but her concern kept him at bay.”  
“I would suggest daily treatments until fully healed, which should take about two months.”  
Takeshi instantly groaned and objected that he couldn't stay in the Obsidian Halls that long.  
“Take, you **will** take this treatment as prescribed!”  
This time Takeshi added a deep growl to his objection and auras flared in a battle of wills.  
“Enough!”  
The healer's sharp voice instantly ended the quarrel.  
“You can return to the human realm and come back here for the treatments. If you come here morning and evening human realm time you would only need to be here a short while for the treatment then you can return home.”  
“Okay, that would work.”  
Takeshi was quick to agree to the suggestion as he had no doubt that his loved ones would demand he stay the entire time if he didn't.  
“Good choice.”  
The healer laughed, well aware of exactly why Takeshi accepted so easily.  
“I am blessed with a good Pack and House.”  
“That you are.”  
The teasing tone had Takeshi huffing in objection, but the old healer wasn't the least bit bothered, which was one of the reasons why Takeshi found him likable.  
“Will you be going home right away?”  
“No, I was thinking we could stay a few days while were here, I have a few things I want to get done.”  
“Okay, I will see you before dinner.”  
“Do I have to?”  
Takeshi mock whined.  
“No, not really. But I have a feeling you will be suffering from a very cold bed if you don't.”  
Takeshi voiced a very theatrical sigh before agreeing to dropping by the healer before dinner was served.  
“Now if you will excuse me, I have a few less troublesome patients to see to.”  
The old angel didn't wait for Takeshi to answer, instead he called on the power of the palace and vanished, no doubt reappearing in his office.

“Sarah, Maria, let's go see the Master Scribe and see if we can get some answers about how those ledgers are made.”  
“Yay!”  
The twin happy chips told everyone what their opinion was.  
“Ugh, what a drag.”  
The others weren't all that keen on Takeshi's plans.  
The three betas of the group shared a look then selected who would join their alpha with a round of _Janken_, resulting in Ylian's loss.  
“Guess that means I will be going then.”  
Ylian managed to sound so utterly devastated at his loss the others instantly broke down laughing, everyone knew that it wasn't about the betas not wanting to go, they simply had no opinion about who should go so they took an easy way to pick.  
If it was the winner or loser who went depended on whether there was a clear winner or loser, in this case both Dan and Amanda had picked scissors, which made Ylian's paper a clear loss.

“Aw...”  
“I guess that means Angel can't do it...”  
“I'm sorry.”  
The Master Scribe had explained that the creation of the language changing ledgers was a high level technique that required not just an enchanted book, but also special inks, and was written by a scribe who mastered all the languages, and actively wove the enchantments.  
Since Angel didn't have a soul she was unable to perform anything beyond the most basic energy manipulation, and even that was only possible by using Sanctuary crystals specially designed to respond to electric energy by releasing a small amount of spiritual energy.  
All of their barrier anchors were designed to respond to that small flare, allowing Angel to activate and deactivate the various barriers they used for their home.  
“I'm sorry I couldn't give you the answers you wanted.”  
The Master Scribe picked up on the drop in the twins' mood and was clearly bothered by it.  
“It's not your fault Angel doesn't have a soul. We will find some other way.”  
Maria quickly tried to soothe the scribe.

“This sounds like a high level skill, just how expensive would it be to have a series of House Chronicles transcribed with this method?”  
“Depends a bit on which languages you want.”  
“Well, the source text would be human realm English, and we would want it in Urui, Obsidian Script, Eternal Night script and Draconian Shadow script.”  
“Excellent choices, Urui ensures most demons will be able to read it, and the others are all extremely beautiful scripts. But it would indeed be an expensive combination.”  
“I suspected it would be.”  
“Maybe Amber can learn how to do it? She's really good at languages and she's the best calligrapher of all of us.”  
“Maybe if she is interested.”  
Takeshi turned back to the scribe.  
“Would you be willing to teach a daughter of my Pack how to do this if she is interested? Or perhaps refer us to someone who might be?”  
“I would be delighted to take on a student, or maybe even an apprentice is she is willing and has the talent for it. Not many youths are interested in the art of the scribe.”  
“Excellent. I will speak to Amber and see if she's interested and let you know.”  
The scribe nodded his agreement.

“Take, can we get something for Angel?”  
“Yeah, she's going to be upset that she can't make the chronicles the way we would like to.”  
Takeshi sighed deeply and nodded, the twins were right about how Angel would react to the information.  
“What did you have in mind?”  
“Inks and nibs for her so she can make the English Chronicles really good looking.”  
“I think she would like that.”  
The twins broke into brilliant smiles as Takeshi okayed their request to buy gifts for Angel.

“Scribe-Iero, could you show us some good looking inks, ones that doesn't require magic to use?”  
“Of course Maria-Iera. Is there anything in particular you want?”  
“Well, the Chronicles will be bound with a textured leather tanned and dyed to mimic the colors of emberwood, and decorated with gold leaf.”  
“So you would like inks that follow the same look?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I think I have a few that you might enjoy. Let's start with Fireblood and Nightshadow ink, when properly mixed those can create some quite amazing results.”  
Takeshi just sighed, those were some of the most expensive inks in the entire demon realm, and the twins would no doubt want Tears of Freya as well, a golden ink that according to legend was made from the tears of the Norse Goddess Freya.  
In reality it was created from a very rare form of demon realm amber that was mixed with extremely fine gold dust, a formula that meant it couldn't be used with a regular nib pen, instead it was used with a crystal or glass dip pen.  
The eager energy of the twins made it quite obvious that he would end up spending a not so small fortune before they were done.

In the end he was glad he did though as Angel was heartbroken by the information, but the gifts combined with Amber's eager promise that she would learn how to do it seemed to help her overcome it.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Soul_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Come on Take, we don't want to be late.”  
Dan, Ylian and Amber arrived at Takeshi's study like clockwork.  
“I'm coming.”  
They had agreed that Amber would be attending lessons with the scribe while Takeshi was treated by the healer, which meant bringing along an extra beta in order to make sure she felt safe.

As soon as they arrived Amber grabbed Ylian by the hand and began dragging them toward the scribes office.  
“Take, don't give the healer any trouble now.”  
Amber scolded teasingly.  
“I won't, and you have fun with Setau and Menna.”  
Amber had given the scribe and his mate the names of old Egyptian scribes to help her as she had a hard time with their Obsidian names, and the pair had been more than happy to accept the names, even though the historical Menna wasn't actually a female the name did sound female to someone who spoke Urui.  
“I will!”  
Takeshi and Dan watched her tugging on Ylian's arm, then shift to her feline form and taking off like a bat out of hell, making Ylian curse softly before altering their form to something better suited to keeping up with her.  
“She really likes those lessons...”  
Dan huffed with a smile.  
“Indeed, it's good for her.”

When Takeshi's treatment was done they headed to the scribe's office to see if Amber was done with her lessons.  
“Take, Dan! Look what Menna-Iera made for me!”  
Amber showed Takeshi a simple scroll with several short stories for children written down in several languages.  
“That's a beautiful manuscript.”  
“Mhm, Menna-Iera made it so I can bring it with me and practice at home.”  
Takeshi quickly turned to Menna.  
“Thank you Menna-Iera, it is most generous to allow us to borrow one of your manuscripts.”  
“Oh, it's not a loan, it's a gift.”  
“No offense, but why? Such a manuscript, even if a copy, is worth a lot.”  
“The children of your House are quite interesting, they show none of the prejudice against trades of the mind that is so common among young demons. Unfortunately most demons favor the trades that require physical prowess rather than patience and prowess of the mind.”  
“Oh trust me, that particular problem is not limited to demons, human youths tend to have very little interest in the traditional arts as well. But that wasn't really an answer.”  
Menna tutted at his complaint about her lack of a proper answer with a smile.  
“It is my selfish hope that the manuscript will make other children of House Shamarai curious about the old arts.”  
“I'm sure it will, it's a beautiful manuscript and these are all very good stories for children.”  
Takeshi gently ran his finger along the back surface of the scroll, it was a good quality item, made to last.  
“Thank you. House Shamarai will treasure your gift.”  
Takeshi gave Amber a gentle nudge and she quickly thanked Menna properly.

“Angel will love reading this.”  
Dan was carefully turning the scroll over as they walked, reading the runes on the simple case.  
“I'm sure she will. They are pretty extensive so she should be able to learn quite a few of the runes.”  
“I'm working on writing a dictionary for her as part of my lessons. It will have all formally recognized Obsidian runes, and quite a few of the more slangish ones as well.”  
Takeshi could feel Amber's determination and he echoed approval and pride over the bond.  
“I'm pretty sure slangish isn't actually a real word...”  
Dan mock teased.  
“Nuh-un, it's totally a real word!”  
The mock argument quickly escalated which made Takeshi and Ylian share a knowing look before falling back a bit, watching the spectacle from a safe distance.

“Welcome back guys, how did it go?”  
Amanda ambushed them the moment they stepped out of the mist, Takeshi estimated that they had been gone about 20 minutes, human realm time, but that never seemed to matter for the level of greetings they received.  
“Good.”  
Takeshi delicately dodged the question, he rather not talk about his treatments, not that anything was wrong, it just made him uncomfortable which earned him some amused huffs.  
“Belle! Taka! Menna gave me a manuscript with children's stories to practice with, would you like me to read them to you tonight?”  
“PleasePleasePleasePleasePlease.”  
Takara was begging at a mind boggling rate while Isabelle voiced some playful growls and squawking roars, she was yet unable to shift, or speak, but she transmitted clearly over the bonds, echoing Takara's eagerness.  
“Bedtime story it is then.”  
Amber laughed and caught the hyper energetic cub mid flying _bounce_, mindful not to touch her wings.  
“Easy there Belle, you don't want to fall into the pool or get caught in the pond netting again, do you?”  
The squirming cub instantly calmed down with a soft, whining, purr that made Amber smile and tap Belle's nose.  
“Go on, give your daddy a really good welcome home kiss.”  
She carefully tossed Isabelle into the air to let her get air under her wings and moments later Takeshi yelped as Isabelle crashed into his chest and scampered up toward his face only to proceed with licking him raw.

“Okay, Belle, that's enough. I would very much like to still have a face.”  
Just like a mortal lion's, Isabelle's tongue was covered with papillae that could lick meat from bones, and it was only Takeshi's enhanced physiology giving him extraordinarily tough skin that kept him from being a bleeding mess.  
All of them had adapted and developed tough hides after Isabelle's birth though so her licks didn't bother any of them, and she knew to be careful about licking guests or Red and the unit, though she always made sure to give Eric a few good licks every time he visited.  
Isabelle whined in mock complaint as Takeshi peeled her from his face and put her down on the ground  
“Why don't you run along and play with Yami and the others for a while, practice your tracking and stalking.”  
The shadow beasts were a great help with teaching Isabelle about hunting, about controlling her body, keep her tail from revealing her while stalking her prey, and the perfect way to pounce.  
“Go on Taka, join them.”  
Moments later a silver foxling with two tails chased a winged lion cub around the large garden before settling down to practicing their stalking on the resident shadows while the others watched, and offered the occasional teasing quip and hints.  
Not all the hints were helpful though, it was part of the exercise to train the young girls in telling truth from lies, to trust instincts and their senses.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Soul_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Take, Mandrake just informed me that they have completed the preliminary work on the R35 and are now ready for the Sanctuary crystals to be applied.”  
“Oh, already?”  
“Apparently they have been slightly bored lately and your little project has offered them a suitable distraction.”  
“I guess it's time to let them know about our plans for the Hawaii build and have them start working on it.”  
“I'm sure they will enjoy having something to rack their brains over.”  
Takeshi took a quick, habitual, look at the time and sighed, he really wanted to head to Hawaii and have a look at the car, but he had promised not to skip any of his treatments.  
“Patience is a virtue.”  
Angel chided softly.  
“I know sweetie. I just want to start driving the new setup.”  
“Oh, so eager to play around?”  
“Remember, last time I raced the tōge it was in Hiro's car so it was the same model, but with a combustion engine, not an electric motor, the technique required is different.”  
“So you need to relearn, and practice.”  
“Indeed. But I promised Em that I would make sure not to miss any treatments so I can't go to Hawaii to do the work.”  
“Do you want me to arrange to have it shipped back here and do the work here?”  
“No, I want them to help you do preliminary tests first so it's better if Em does it, she's better than me at manipulating the crystals anyway.”  
“Can't I just do the testing here?”  
“You could, but it wouldn't be as effective, remember, were not just testing to see that it's mechanically sound, we will be testing how well you can manipulate the crystalline nanocomposite. Hopefully we won't need much adjustments, but they will no doubt be needed, and it would be easier to do that at Mandrake.”  
“Okay.”  
Angel quickly accepted his reasoning, but there was a hint of hesitation.

“Don't worry sweetie, you'll be fine.”  
“It's the first time I have done something like this without having you at my side throughout it.”  
“I know, but you can do it. You're a big girl now, all grown up and ready to test your wings.”  
Takeshi could feel Daniels' spirit rise and after a moment to focus he allowed her to rise fully.  
“My sweet little girl, I know you can do this. Take and I will be here for you if you need us, we just won't be at the test site.”  
“I know mom...”  
Takeshi could feel Daniels' distress at not being able to hug Angel and he did his best to soothe both spirit and AI by reaching out for the nearest drone and brushing his fingers over the touch sensitive surface, calmly waiting for them to relax.

“_Take, she is our daughter in all but blood.”_  
Daniels' mental voice held a solemn note  
_“Indeed she is.”_  
Takeshi agreed softly, feeling the other spirits rise slightly as well, supporting Daniels.  
_“I want you to make me a promise.”  
“What kind of promise.”  
“Promise me that once you have resolved the immediate issue with Hiro that you will focus on giving her a body.”  
“Okay, I can promise that. I can't make any promises about how soon there will be any results though.”  
“Of course you can't. But I know you, you will try your best to have it done as soon as possible.”_  
Takeshi quickly gave a silent promise and he could feel the spirits retreat.

“What did you and mom talk about?”  
Angel had noticed the delay and somewhat distant look in his eyes and was familiar with the meaning.  
“She wanted me to make her a promise.”  
“Concerning me?”  
“Yes.”  
“What kind of promise?  
“She asked me to put creating a body for you on the top of my list once this business with Hiro has been resolved.”  
“Did you?”  
Angel was well aware that Takeshi didn't make promises lightly.  
“I did.”  
“I see...”  
There was a moment of silence, then a soft _Thanks_ _Dad_ was added over his com-implant.  
“You know, you are allowed to call me Dad anytime you like.”  
“I know, I just...”  
“Don't worry about it.”  
Takeshi once again found himself amazed by how human Angel could be at times.  
“Come on, let's go talk to the other about having Em go to Hawaii.”  
“Okay.”

“Can we join Amber on her lessons with the scribes instead?”  
“I can ask tonight, but I can't make any promises.”  
Sarah and Maria instantly deflated slightly.  
It was turning out to be quite a hassle to divide up the people of the household as neither Emelie nor Takeshi felt comfortable with any of them not having an alpha or a beta around and Takeshi not being 100% only made things worse.  
“You do know we can take care of ourselves...”  
“We know you are more than able but Take and I worry so much if there isn't at least a beta with you, it's instinct. We can fight the instincts, but we rather you cooperate and allow us to be overprotective.”  
There were plenty of huffs and sighs, but eventually everyone agreed, not wanting to make Emelie worry even more than she already did.

“How about if I go with Em to Hawaii and the rest of you go visit the Obsidian halls. Then we can use the portal back at the island to join you when not working on the car?”  
Dan suggestion instantly had the attention on him.  
“That would work if the healer and scribes agree to making some schedule adjustments so Amber's lessons and Take's treatments aren't both at the same time.”  
Emelie, Amanda and Ylian quickly agreed which made Takeshi nod as well, if the others agreed he was more than happy to stay at the Obsidian Halls for a while.  
“Sounds okay.”  
“Can we visit the market?”  
“Do you think we will be able to see Lucifer?”  
Alice question instantly triggered a bout of teasing.  
“What?! He was really good...”  
Alice was still the only one of the girls who had accepted Lucifer's persistent propositions.  
“I have no doubt he will do his best to get an opportunity to try to lure as many of you as he can into his bed.”  
Emelie's teasing quip instantly had all the girls blushing and calling her horrible, but Carol and Amy both blushed in a way that revealed that they were seriously considering accepting this time around and if they gave in Anne would probably find the courage to do the same.

Takeshi knew it wasn't a lack of desire that kept them from sharing Lucifer's bed, he had spoken to all of them about the matter and they had all mentioned being tempted by the ancient angel who could be devastatingly charming when he wanted to.  
Instead it was a mix of lingerings fears connected to their past trauma, insecurities and good old shyness.  
As much as part of his instincts rebelled, Takeshi was genuinely hoping that they girls would find the courage to explore beyond their relationship with him and share Lucifer's bed, it would be good for their confidence.  
Not to mention that gaining experience with more than one partner would be good for them, and hopefully help them develop their independence and make them less reliant on him, as much as he enjoyed having them in his bed he wanted them to find loves of their own.  
He wouldn't mind an opportunity to share Lucifer's bed again himself, it had been an interesting experience, and now that he was more comfortable with giving up control to a lover he was curious about how far he could handle letting Lucifer have his way.  
He knew it wouldn't go as far as him allowing himself to be taken, he was unsure if he would ever reach such a point, but he very much wanted to test his limits.

“So, are we all in agreement?”  
There were nods all around.  
“What about you Eriko? You haven't said anything.”  
“I was hoping to use the time to head home and visit for a bit.”  
“Mom, I kinda promised I would help watch Belle, so can I go with them to the Obsidian Halls?”  
“Of course you can sweetie.”  
“Thanks Mom!”  
“Well if that's settled there just one thing left.”  
Takeshi turned to Dan with a smirk.

“I was thinking you should give Eric a call and see if he can take a few weeks of and join you.”  
“But, if he comes I won't be able to come join you in the Obsidian Halls, he's just human.”  
“Don't worry. I have been thinking a lot about that little dilemma.”  
While he spoke Takeshi brought a bracelet similar to the ones he and Dan both wore, it had the same dragon design, but the colors were different, the one he wore was pure black with a flame motif and carried a touch of Kiryu's aura.  
Dan's bracelet had the same flame motif, but in red and black, adding traces of Takeshi's aura as well, the one Takeshi was holding out for Dan though was green and blue with silver highlights and a lightning motif.  
“What..?”  
“It's a barrier made to protect a human from being overwhelmed by the energies of the demon realm. A gift that would allow your loved one to be a greater part of you life seems like a good prelude to a courtship to me.”  
“How did you know?”  
“You sometimes broadcast pretty strongly when you are worried about something. And your desire to court Eric has been keeping you up at night.”  
“Why haven't you said anything?”  
“I wanted to give you time, hoping you would come to me, or any of us, on your own.”  
Takeshi's words made Dan deflate visibly.  
“I know I can, I just, I don't know what I want... A husband, or a mate...”  
Everyone could tell what the issue was, for Dan to be able to claim Eric as a mate, Eric had to be changed into something more than a mortal human.  
“Well, either option would require a courtship, besides, you can always start with a husband, and maybe one day extent that to a mate.”  
“You mean?”  
“Yes, I believe he's worthy. But I will leave it up to you to teach him, to make sure he understands. And hopefully this will help you do that.”  
Takeshi barely finished speaking before he found himself tackled to the ground by a very grateful Dan.  
“Thanks!”

Once Dan was calm again Takeshi held out the bracelet again and this time Dan took it, and the moment he did it came to life with a spark of his aura.  
“That should also offer him some protection from any non-humans he might run into.”  
“Thanks...”  
Dan was clearly somewhat overwhelmed, and things didn't get better when Eriko offered to add a version of the foxcharm against deception into it, asking only what she had asked of Takeshi for the girls, that Dan teach Eric about living with the land.  
“I will, I promise.”  
Touching the bracelet with a tiny spark of foxfire Eriko made the colors come to life with faint glow, the color of the foxfire further enhancing that of the crystal material.  
“Go on, call him over.”  
Takeshi gave Dan a teasing nudge, and as always there was a few teasing voices calling _Booty Call!_ as Dan made the call and asked Eric if he could drop by.  
“So?”  
“He'll be here around 5:30, he needs to close up the shop.”  
“Great, that gives us plenty of time to whip up something nice to eat. Anything in particular you think he would like?”  
Emelie turned an expectant eye to Dan.  
“Well, he did mention a while back that he has never had fresh lobster.”  
“Seafood with lobster as the main star it is then.”  
Emelie quickly divided the cooking tasks before grabbing Ylian and vanishing into the shadows to go buy a selection of live cold water lobsters as they only had spiny lobsters in their stores.

When Emelie and Ylian returned they didn't just have lobsters, but a nice selection of clams, oysters, mussels and scallops as well as cuttlefish, squid and octopus, which instantly had Alice and Anne squealing with joy.  
“Remember, we want Eric to have an opportunity to sample everything.”  
Emelie mock scolded the energetic girls.  
“We know.”  
“Can we cook them?”  
“Of course, you are really good at it. Just make sure to make a nice variety of dishes, and remember, he really liked the grilled squid nigiri.”  
“Okay!”  
“Take, will you make some _Sumeshi_?”  
“Yeah, I'll make plenty. A lot of this stuff will make excellent nigiri toppings.”  
“Can you make that hot citrus stuff too?”  
“You mean _Yuzu Kosho_?”  
“Yeah, that's the stuff.”  
“Sure, it goes really well with seafood too. Would one of you go fetch my _Suribachi_?”  
Most people used food processors to make the citrus zest and chili paste, but Takeshi preferred the traditional Japanese mortar and pestle.  
“Okay.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Soul_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Aww, did you guys make lobster just for me?”  
“Mhm.”  
“Dan told us you've never had fresh lobster.”  
“Grandma always tells me how much she misses being able to buy fresh lobster, it was still pretty cheap when she was younger, but now it's crazy expensive.”  
They could all feel Eric's hesitance over the expensive food, over the past 30 years there had been a drastic decline in lobster populations, resulting in a sharp increase in prices, from roughly $30 per kilo, to over $300 per kilo.  
“What's the point of having a lot of money if I can't use it to spoil my friends?”  
“Why do I even bother..?”  
Eric huffed and mock complained.  
“Indeed, just sit down and accept being spoiled rotten.”  
With a crooked look Eric did as asked and for the next hour he was served one treat after another.

“Damn, that was every bit as amazing as Nana made it out to be.”  
“Glad you liked it.”  
“Like you didn't make damn sure I would...”  
“Of course we did.”  
As usual there was plenty of teasing as everyone settled down to relax a bit and let the food settle.  
“I'm getting a feeling you didn't call me over just to feed me though...”  
“You're right, we didn't.”  
Takeshi spoke up as he could feel Dan's nervousness.  
“We will be heading out for a few weeks, most of us to the Obsidian Halls, but Dan and Em will be going to Hawaii as well to work on the modification to my R35.”  
“Oh, okay...”  
“We were wondering if you would like to tag along. Have a look around the Mandrake R&D facility, visit our island and the Sanctuary, and then come see what the Obsidian Halls are like.”  
”Really?”  
“Yeah, really.”  
“I'd love to! But... Is it safe? I mean...”  
“It will be.”  
Takeshi gave Dan's aura a gentle nudge to get him moving.  
“If you wear this you will be protected...”  
Dan held out the bracelet for Eric.  
“It's beautiful...”  
“It...”  
Dan's voice trailed off and he gave Takeshi a pleading look.  
“What our dear Dan here is trying to say is that is has a deeper meaning. Among demons a courtship is usually initiated by the giving of a gift with a deep personal meaning, a gift that carries a bit of their power. With this gift Dan is offering you a way to become fully part of his life, to see it all. Normally accepting it would mean accepting a courtship.”  
Eric instantly turned back to Dan with a wide-eyed stare and Dan just nodded softly.  
“I accept.”  
Now Eric was the one faced with a questioning look.  
“Yes, all of it.”  
The hooting and catcalling was instant, but fell silent in the face of the kiss that followed.

“I don't have anything for you...”  
Eric watched as Dan secured the bracelet around his arm and showed him how to release the clasp if he wanted to take it off.  
“It's okay. You're not a demon so no one expects you to adhere to such traditions.”  
“I still want to though...”  
“How about I take you to the market in the Obsidian Halls to see if we can't find something you like?”  
Takeshi offered to help Eric find a courting gift for Dan.  
“I doubt they take US dollars...”  
“Don't worry, if you find something I'll pay for it and we can figure out a way for you to repay me.”  
Takeshi added a teasing edge to his words that earned him a slap on the arm but there was no mistaking the gratitude for the offer.  
“There's one more thing that would be solved if you come with us.”  
“More?”  
“Mhm, I would like you to have a familiar.”  
“Like the ones the girls have?”  
“Yeah. Though I'm pretty sure it will be more like Dan's and Nelly's familiars, a true living creature.”  
Takeshi had developed an understanding for the process and how it could be affected by the conditions when being performed.

“I guess I don't need to worry about food and stuff like that?”  
“Not at all, we will make sure you can take care of it. And if you need stuff like an exotic animal permit we will arrange that too.”  
“I'll have to talk to Dad, but I don't think he will mind. With Rick gone Carrie was eager to come back and work for us again, and Toby is more than happy to take extra hours whenever he can so they can handle me being gone for a while.”  
“Excellent, and don't worry about the money, we'll cover it.”  
Eric huffed and grabbed his phone to call his father and they quickly agreed on a 4 week vacation starting the following Monday.  
“Great, then we have a plan.”  
“How much do I need to pack?”  
“Not much. We'll be spending most of the time in the Obsidian Halls. The climate is different, and so is fashion. And it's a bit easier to deal with the locals if you don't stand out too much.”  
“Clothes shopping?”  
“Oh yeah.”  
The utterly horrified look had everyone laughing and things quickly deteriorated into a friendly scuffle after that and once people were calm again they began playing games and talking.

When Eric began yawning he and Dan snuck away too Dan's place for some privacy, earning them the usual hoots and teasing calls.  
“Put a sock in it!”  
“Have fun boys!”  
“Eriko not you too...”  
“What? I'm Kitsune, it's my nature.”  
Dan's annoyed hiss only made her smile wider.

“They are a really good match.”  
Emelie hummed softly as she claimed her place in Takeshi's lap.  
“Indeed they are. And Eric's soul practically screams loyalty.”  
“Yeah, even I can sense it. He will make a good addition to our family.”  
“Mhm.”  
“I wonder what kind of familiar he will get...”  
“You'll know soon enough.”  
Takeshi smiled at her impatient curiosity.  
“By the way, when you make his familiar, add this to the blood.”  
Takeshi gave her a small crystal vial with a few drops of his blood, and charged with his life force.  
“You put a lot into this...”  
“I did, it will make sure Eric's familiar is a true life form and not a construct. I want them to have that in common.”  
“You are really going all out with this.”  
“I guess. Feeling Dan's joy, and love, it's amazing.”  
“You know, I can feel him too now that we are mates.”  
Emelie huffed at him with a teasing smile.

Emelie's mating with Dan was another reason for why Takeshi wanted Dan to be the beta to go with her to Mandrake, to give them some time away from the others to strengthen their bond, and unlike the others Eric wouldn't affect that in any significant way.  
Takeshi could tell that Dan was still a bit insecure about the mating with Emelie, it had been too sudden and with all the other bonds pulling and pushing on them Dan was unable to focus on the bond with Emelie, and being away from the others would dim the bonds with power, allowing Emelie to shine brightly in his senses, making her easy to focus on.  
And Emelie in turn was worried that her dormant alpha nature had made Dan do something he didn't really want, that it had triggered his beta nature and made him submit to the mating without truly wanting it.  
Takeshi however wasn't concerned about that part, he knew how Dan felt about Emelie, knew he truly loved her, and he knew Emelie had grown to love Dan as well, the two just needed to find their place in the sudden change in their relationship.

“Em, I want you to focus on Dan when you are at Mandrake and the island, strengthen your bond, let him feel your love. I know a lot of his focus will be on Eric, but his soul will respond to you.”  
”I will love. Don't worry. I care about him every bit as much as you do. I always cared deeply for him, and now, with the matingbond, and feeling him so acutely I finally truly understand your urge to protect him.”  
She smiled softly at him.  
“His soul... It's amazing... He's amazing...”  
Emelie didn't elaborate any further but their bond told Takeshi exactly what she was feeling.  
“Indeed.”  
Both of them settled down and opened the bond between them, and allowed their feelings for Dan echo between them.


	3. Shattered Heart

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Come on Dan, time go.”  
Emelie gave a slight pulse of aura to snap Dan out of his rather intense goodbye kiss with Ylian.  
“Oh well, Eric, let's get you ready while we wait.”  
“Huh?”  
Eric was utterly confused with the travel preparations.  
“Oh never mind.”  
Emelie grabbed his bags and placed them on the table with the rune circle.  
“Nothing living in them I hope?”  
“What? No. Why?”  
“Rune teleportation would kill anything alive.”  
“Aren't we flying?”  
“Nah, it's just you, me and Dan so I have a better idea.”  
Emelie quickly stepped into his shadow, then out of the shadow of a nearby tree.  
“Cool.”  
“And much faster.”  
“But, is it safe for me?”  
“Of course, we won't do anything that would be dangerous to you.”  
Eric blushed slightly at the reassurance.  
“Eric, you are important to Dan, and that makes you important to all of us.”  
“I know... and I do understand, it's just...”  
“A lot to wrap your head around?”  
“No kidding...”  
“We know, and we will be patient with you, don't worry. A few of us have been through the same, not all of us had the benefit of youth when dealing with it.”  
“That's what worries me...”  
The obvious amusement made Emelie laugh, then pounce at Dan and bite his ear in reprimand for not doing as she had asked him to.

“Okay okay, I'm coming. Dammit Em, be nice to my poor ear.”  
“Come here Eric, I need to touch you for this to work.”  
“Okay.”  
“Hey!”  
When Eric came close enough Emelie grabbed his ass and gave it a good squeeze before putting her arm around his waist.  
“Remember, succubus.”  
She quipped with a wide smile before reaching out for Dan's hand, with his developing shadow abilities it was very easy for her to guide him along so very little contact was needed.  
His powers were still developing, but he had reached a point where he could _see, sense,_ the doorways into the shadowrealm but he was still unable to open them, to step through them, following once someone else helped him past the threshold was fairly easy though.  
“See you later guys!”  
Emelie waited a moment for the reply, then she pulled on the shadows and vanished along with Dan and Eric.”

Moments later Emelie brought them out of the shadow under the Jacaranda tree that hid the entrance to the island Sanctuary.  
“Wow! That was...”  
“Different?”  
Dan quickly offered with a smile.  
“Mhm...”  
“No strange sensations or discomfort?”  
“A bit chilled, but that's all.”  
“It's the shadowrealm, it feels cold to most. Dan and I are immune to the sensation because we have a bit of shadow in us.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
“Don't worry, it will pass soon.”

Emelie and Dan hung back and watched as Eric explored the Sanctuary with the usual amazement.  
Dan was highly distracted though as Emelie leaned into him, baring her mashen to him, though, she was in a similar condition, mostly lost in the sensation of his touch, trusting that the Sanctuary was safe for Eric to explore.  
By the time they were able to focus again Eric was watching them with a crooked smile.  
“Feeling better?”  
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”  
“Take explained that you guys would probably be pretty touchy feely.”  
“Yeah, but you could have said something.”  
“Nah, it's fine. Had plenty to amuse myself with, this place is amazing.”  
“You still have one thing left to see.”  
“In that room with the beautiful tree?”  
“That's the Soul Tree, the heart of the Sanctuary.”

“It's amazing, so beautiful.”  
Eric reached out toward one of the clusters of flowers, but pulled back slightly before touching it.  
_**“You may touch.”**__  
_The voice of the Mother made him jump visibly.  
“And that is the Mother, the Avatar of Life.”  
Emelie explained with a smile.  
“Eh... Pleased to meet you... I guess?”  
_**“Indeed young Eric. There is no need to be shy.”**_**  
**“The Mother is life, that's how these familiars come alive.”  
“Oh, okay. Guess I have to thank you for agreeing to make one for me then.”  
_**“My chosen deems you worthy, and I trust my chosen.”**_

While Eric spoke to the Mother Emelie could feel the consciousness of the powerful entity brush against her, giving her instructions for the creation of Eric familiar.  
_**“Eric, it's time for you to receive your familiar. Our little Em will guide you through the process.”**_**  
**“Okay...”  
The vine of the pitcher plant quickly grew and while it did Emelie handed Dan a small crystal vial she had just made on the Mother's instruction.  
“Dan, fill this with your blood and charge it with prana please.”  
“Okay...”  
He was slightly confused, but did as she asked.  
“Eric, did Take explain to you how this works?”  
“Yeah, you need to cut my hand and add my blood into that plant.”  
“Good. You can choose to either let me, or Dan, use our claws to cut, or we can use a dragonstone blade, they cut clean and heal fast.”  
“Yeah, he explained that too.”  
Eric quickly turned to Dan.  
“I trust you, please, use your claws.”  
Takeshi had explained to Eric the meaning, and importance, of such shows of trust.  
“Thanks...”

Dan gently took the offered hand and after a moment of focus he used a razor sharp claw to cut into Eric's hand and helped him hold it over the pitcher.  
“I can help heal it if you let me lick it.”  
Emelie offered to heal the wound as Dan was still learning how to heal after the infusion of shadow power altered the balance of his energies.  
“Okay.”  
Eric's reaction to Emelie licking the blood from his hand and healing the cut made Dan snicker teasingly at him.  
“She's a succubus, it's normal to react like that to her touch, and even when she focuses on not to there is always a small amount of lust inducing toxin in her saliva.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
Eric sighed in relief as they watched Emelie add the two small crystal vials and a drop of her own blood.  
“Since you are human there is very little power in your blood, this adds power, making sure your familiar will be more than a mere construct.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
They watched the pitcher close and slowly swell before opening again.

“Go on, put your hand in and get your familiar.”  
Eric did as Emelie told him and moments later he had a black egg in his hand.  
“A bird?”  
“Or something too large for the pitcher.”  
They watched the egg quickly grow in his hands, then it began to crack and moments later a bundle of black fur tumbled out of it.  
_**“Oh my, a hellcat. That will be interesting.”**_  
The Mother's voice was clearly amused at what they had just created.  
“It's more like a hellkitten right now though.”  
Emelie snorted in amusement.  
“It's cute.”  
They watched as Eric bonded to the creature and when he looked up at them he had a rather silly smile plastered all over his face.  
“She's amazing...”  
“Oh, a female kitten is it?”  
There was a soft hiss in objection followed by a few mewls.  
“Leiia insists she's a cub, not a kitten.”  
Eric explained with a look of wonder on his face, still almost intoxicated by the sensation of the bond with his familiar.  
“Oh, your name is Leiia little one?”  
Dan's question triggered another mewl followed by a soft, rumbling purr.  
“I guess that means yes.”  
“An amazing familiar indeed.”

It didn't take long before Leiia started to become fuzzy and it soon became obvious she was hungry.  
“I think she's too small to eat solid food, we need to find a way for her to nurse.”  
Eric's obvious concern made Emelie and Dan smile.  
“Don't worry, we still have the formula and equipment Take used for Yami, that should work just fine for Leiia as well. At least until we get to the Obsidian Halls, once there we can talk to the Stable Master about some demon milk or formula for her.”  
“Okay.”  
As they headed toward the house they allowed Leiia to explore a bit before Eric picked the exhausted cub up and carried her the rest of the way.  
“Let's try the formula as is first. But she might not take it.”  
Emelie wasn't surprised when the fuzzy bundle didn't show any interest in the mix.  
“Now what?”  
“Now we add a bit of blood. Just a few drops.”  
Eric did as she suggested and Leiia instantly latched onto the nipple and began suckling with tiny, happy, noises.  
“If she's anything like Yami she won't accept being fed by anyone but you unless there is a mix of both your blood and theirs in the formula.”  
“Okay...”  
“Don't worry, she shouldn't need to be fed like this for very long. Hellcat growth starts out a bit slower than mortal cats but then it picks up to the same rate until they reach adulthood.”  
“I'm curious **why** she's a cub though, all the other familiars have been born as adults.”  
“I don't know, but my guess is that it will be easier for people close to Eric to accept a cute little cub and watch it grow into an adult, than to handle being confronted by an adult feline the size of a large cougar.”  
Dan nodded softly to Emelie's suggestion, it made a lot of sense.

“Let's grab the formula and head to Mandrake.”  
“Can't we stay like this a bit longer?”  
Dan was struggling a bit with their current position with Emelie at one side, Eric at the other side and a sleeping cub in his lap, but he was gradually calming down and finding his balance being the central point of the small group.  
“I guess we can be fashionably late and show up after lunch.”  
Emelie tutted softly, she honestly didn't mind, it felt good to feel the bond settle down as Dan grew increasingly content.  
“Hmm?”  
Eric's questioning hum seemed to calm Dan even further.  
“It's a pack dynamics thing. I'm not used to being the center like this.”  
“Because Take usually is?”  
“Mhm. Right now Em is allowing me to step up and take a dominant role despite her alpha nature telling her she should be the dominant one.”  
“Because of me?”  
“Not entirely, but you being here is part of why I'm doing it. It's easier on our instincts to allow Dan to be the pillar, the center.”  
Emelie took over and explained more about pack dynamics while Dan nudged them both into more comfortable positions, allowing himself to be pulled along the instincts to protect when the alpha male wasn't there.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Ylian, would you be a sweetheart and take me home?”  
Eriko had watched Emelie leave before turning to Ylian to see if they were willing to take her to Japan, if not she would simply call Kasumi and ask Knight to send his steed.  
“Of course. Where would you like me to bring you?”  
With Ylian's permission Eriko allowed her foxfire to rise and touch them, transmitting an image of her hidden home, a feeling of its location.  
“A beautiful home, and well hidden, I can sense the barriers that protects it, even through the shadows.”  
“The barriers will react to my foxfire and allow us to pass.”  
Eriko quickly shed the more human visage that she used most of the time and allowed her kitsune traits to surface before offering Ylian her hand.  
_“Itte kimasu.”_  
Eriko gave the others a quick wave.  
_“Itte rasshai.”  
_They responded in kind and moments later the pair vanished.

“Okay girls, are you ready to leave when Ylian gets back?”  
Takeshi called out to the gathered group.  
“Ready!”  
“Yup.”  
“Good to go.”  
“Been ready for ages...”  
The tone of the replies varied and Takeshi gave them a pleased brush of his aura.  
“Angel, special parameters protocol _Home Alone_ authorized. You be careful and take care of yourself, and our home.”  
“Parameters recognized and acknowledged. Don't worry, I'll manage.”

Takeshi had written up the protocol in privacy mode so Angel had been unaware of the contents until he gave the command, the protocol lifted a lot of the usual restriction on her autonomy, not just allowing her to use lethal force to defend their home, but also allowing her several liberties to amuse herself.  
There was also a list of suggested projects, including continuing the search for restaurants that would permit her to order food for them, the only difference being that she would deliver the food to those in need if she was allowed to order.

“I know you will sweetie. But if something gets out of hand, give Sumi-ane a call and she will help you, or get in touch with us if needed.”  
“I know. And thank you for doing this.”  
“We'll, didn't we agree it's time for you to test your wings?”  
“I guess...”  
“You can do it!”  
“You rock.”  
“Don't worry, you'll kick ass!”  
The girls made it perfectly clear how they felt about it and for a moment Angel's display actually blushed before scattering into glowing dust.

When Ylian returned everyone quickly moved toward the mist fountain and as it activated they called out to the still hiding AI.  
“See you in a couple of weeks Angels.”  
“Have fun!”  
“Bye Angel!”  
The lack of answer just made them smile and head through the mist, though Ylian looked slightly confused for a moment until Takeshi offered him a silent burst of memories, an ability that had manifested after the breaking of the seal.

Arriving in the Hall of Mist they were greeted by a few guards and Takeshi noted that a group of Royal messengers were present, signaling that Lucifer was home.  
“Would you please inform Lord Lucifer that House Shamarai seeks an audience. Our business fairly urgent.”  
“How urgent?”  
“We would need to speak with him within the next two days.”  
“Of course Shamarai-Yemo.”  
One of the messengers hurried away to give Lucifer the message.  
“Little Belle is maturing well, a pride to her house.”  
One of the guards smiled when Isabelle approached, carefully tracking the familiar scent of the guard who had been assigned to them during her last visit.  
“Indeed she is.”  
Takeshi and Jenna were both proud as peacocks at the praise, Isabelle hadn't grown much physically, but the angel could feel the increase in power and how her energy had matured.

“Come on girls, let's get moving.”  
The veritable stampede that followed had the guards smiling, over the years the guards who worked the Obsidian Palace, especially the Inner Palace and Imperial Court had grown to enjoy the visits of House Shamarai, the children of the House always energetic and happy.  
Over the years Takeshi had noticed that those guards who didn't approve of his relationship with other males, or relationships between winged and wingless had gradually vanished from the Royal Guard, and as far as he knew there were none of such opinion in the Royal Guard.  
The latter was quite understandable as the Royal Guard were those closest to Lucifer, individuals he trusted with his life, and since Lucifer himself frequently sought male lovers it wouldn't work to have bigots in his personal guard.

“Can I try to activate the runes?”  
Nelly watched Takeshi prepare the rune circle to bring their bags through.  
“Of course sweetie.”  
Takeshi was more than happy to guide Nelly through the process and when she succeeded everyone cheered at her.  
“That was great Nel!”  
“Thanks Dad!”  
Nelly pounced Ethan and gave him a happy hug, then she pounced Hugin and Takeshi in turn and smothered them in eager kisses.  
“We'll just put our stuff away so you guys go ahead and screw each other silly.”  
Takeshi just flared his aura in mock annoyance as the laughing group left the sitting area of the hidden garden, giving them a semblance of privacy.

Takeshi estimated it was about 6 marks later when the barrier around their garden pulsed with power, telling them that Lucifer was requesting entry so Takeshi tugged at the energy to make it flicker with invitation and admit the angel.  
Takeshi's eyes widened slightly in surprise when Lucifer instantly stepped up to him and he found himself on the receiving end of wings gently brushing against his arms.  
“It's good to see you again.”  
The way Lucifer brushed his fingers against Takeshi's face left him confused, it wasn't like the old angel to be quite so forward, at least not without also being teasing.  
“Likewise.”  
“So, what can I do for you?”  
“Well. We're planning on staying for a while and we are bringing a guest, Dan's human simoro.”  
“I see. I'll make sure to have an extra guard assigned to him, and your House may intervene in any matters of challenge involving this human.”  
“Thanks, and by the way, his name is Eric, I think you'll like him.”  
“I'm sure I will, you clearly do and I like your taste.”  
The teasing quip made Takeshi huff and smile.

Lucifer took the time to greet everyone properly before excusing himself.  
“I'm afraid I don't have time to stay, but Take, I want to speak with you tonight, in private.”  
After a quick glance at his chosen family Takeshi nodded and accepted the invitation.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Take, come here.”  
Lucifer held out his hand and beckoned for Takeshi to come closer and he opted to just do as the angel wanted.  
“Yami, why don't you go explore my private garden for a bit?”  
Yami whuffed softly, he didn't like to be separated from Takeshi, but he did as Lucifer asked, the small garden was inside the privacy barrier so he would be able to feel the pair inside just fine.  
“What did you want that would require privacy?”  
Lucifer didn't answer Takeshi's question, instead his aura unfurled and began gently caressing his, urging him to drop his defenses and after a while he relaxed and the shields came down.  
“You have shattered beautifully. Just like I knew you would.”  
“How?”  
Takeshi was somewhat out of it, the touch of so much power against the raw fragments of his soul had him somewhat off balance.  
“Seer, remember?”  
“Sorry...”  
Takeshi's voice was somewhat unstable and he was suddenly very grateful for the support of Lucifer's wings.  
“Don't be, it will take awhile for you to find yourself again, but when you do you will find that you are once again more than the sum of your parts.”

“It's already begun.”  
Takeshi's soft admission made Lucifer smile.  
“Good, that's really good.”  
“That _soul-massage_ Doc insisted on is helping.”  
Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Takeshi was weakened had him worried and he didn't want him to suffer more than absolutely needed.  
“So, what kind of ability have you gained?”  
“Let your defenses down and I can show you.”  
Lucifer just nodded and allowed what remained of his defenses to drop, he had already let most of his shields down when Takeshi first arrived to help him relax.  
Takeshi carefully reached out and shared the memories of what had happened since he shattered the seal, mindful to control the flow of memories as they had found it could be overwhelming for the one receiving them.

“Interesting ability, and this Hiro of yours seem like an interesting male.”  
The teasing tone was back and it made Takeshi flash his fangs at Lucifer, but his emotions were a jumble.  
“Easy Take, I'm not going to steal him away from you, I doubt anyone can. I know about Tengu and their youma.”  
“I know you won't. I'm sorry.”  
Takeshi was growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to fully contain his emotions and restrain his instincts.  
“Oh don't worry. I know it's just a side effect of breaking free of the seal.”  
Takeshi growled lowly, voicing his growing frustration.  
“Easy young alpha. Come here.”  
Lucifer carefully leaned back, allowing Takeshi to act on his agitated instincts.  
“Ah, your bite feels good.”  
The slight tightening of both arms and wings encouraged Takeshi to bite harder and soon they were both breathing hard.

“Feeling better?”  
“Yeah, a little.”  
Something about being close to Lucifer was triggering all kinds of conflicting instincts.  
“Why don't you lay down and allow me to work on those fractures a bit?”  
“You know how to do it?”  
“Yeah, it's not all that hard, just takes a lot of control.”  
“Okay.”  
Takeshi gradually relaxed under the gentle pressure of Lucifer's aura and soon he was on the verge of dozing off.

He had no idea how much time had passed when the pressure let off and a soft breath ghosted against his back.  
“May I?”  
Lucifer clearly didn't want to risk doing anything to trigger his instincts.  
“Please.”  
Lucifer's soft sigh when he received permission stoked the embers deep in Takeshi's belly and the gentle kisses that followed breathed life into them, rekindling the fire.  
When the kisses began focusing on the area between his shoulder blades the soft, involuntary, chirps changed slightly, gaining a somewhat wistful tone and deep inside Takeshi understood.  
The surprised chirp when Takeshi called on his power and took the form of an obsidian angel quickly turned happy and eager and the feeling of Lucifer's breath against the soft feathers of the mashen made him move slightly, encouraging the old angel to burrow his face into the warm softness.  
Takeshi did feel the instincts to protect the area, but they weren't as strong as they were for trueborn fliers.

“You're okay with this?”  
Lucifer hesitated slightly when their motions brought him into a somewhat dominant position.  
“Yeah. I've had plenty of practice.”  
“But you won't let me claim you, will you?”  
“No. I doubt I will ever be able to allow anyone to do that.”  
The reply made Lucifer voice a disappointed chirp, but there were undertones of amusement and something teasing, telling Takeshi that he didn't really mind.  
“Seeing you like this... It's amazing...”  
The deceptively submissive pose clearly triggered Lucifer's instincts, and his enjoyment of it was obvious which made Takeshi want to tease him more.  
He carefully moved to switch their positions, but intentionally stayed low and allowed Lucifer to remain seated, though he was sure the old angel would have laid down had he made any motion to make him.  
Kneeling down he gave the heated flesh before him a teasing lick which earned him an excited trill and a hand hovering just over the mashen.  
A quick glance up revealed hooded eyes and an almost dazed expression, but the energy was still focused, waiting for permission to touch and with a teasing nod Takeshi granted it before going to work on bringing Lucifer to his end.

It didn't take long for the pair to bring each other into the abyss and soon they were curled into each other on the bed, Takeshi still in his borrowed form.  
“Seeing you like this, holding you like this, makes me wish you were my soulmate.”  
The soft words, spoken in the obsidian language, made Takeshi open his eyes and look at Lucifer for a moment, then lean in with a smile and kiss him.  
“I wouldn't have minded.”  
Lucifer's words had been a confession of love of sorts, and Takeshi's answer was the same, but it was a love that was somewhere between familial, friendly, and romantic.

“We really do shatter our own hearts for those we love, don't we?”  
Over the years that he had known him Takeshi had learned that Lucifer was much like himself, the old angel had several lovers, both male and female, that he loved deeply.  
“We do, and in their care the fragments heal, grow, and make us more than we were before.”  
“And my soul?”  
Takeshi was trying to keep it hidden, but he was worried about how the shattering of the seal had affected him, his soul.  
“Well, it wasn't truly shattered, that would have killed even you.”  
“I know, It's because I'm a chimera, an amalgamation of soul fragments.”  
“Indeed, the seal has kept the fragments of your soul from fully merging as they should, and in a sense those fragments separated a bit more from the power of shattering it.”  
“And now they are finally merging.”  
“Yeah, but having been kept apart for so long each fragment has healed on it's own too, growing to a point where they are nearly as strong as a full soul, and now these are merging.”  
“Those cursed Fates really do love pulling my strings...”  
“That they do, but I'm glad they do, they have created something amazing in you.”  
This time Takeshi just huffed and Lucifer allowed the topic to drop, feeling that the younger male had been able to voice his concerns.

Lucifer watched the transformation bleed away and moments later the human looking male settled down against his chest and sighed softly in contentment when he draped his wing over him.  
“Go on, sleep. I'll wake you when it's time for breakfast.”  
“Mmm...”  
There was a barely intelligible hum then Takeshi was deep asleep, he didn't even notice when they were joined by Lucifer's majordomo, Yami did raise his head though and voiced a warning growl.  
“Ssh, Yami, it's okay, it's only my majordomo, you know him.”  
Yami quickly quieted down, but he didn't stop watching the visitor and Lucifer didn't get up when the old angel entered, instead he turned slightly so that his wing would better cover Takeshi to muffle sounds, and shield him from the intruding aura.  
“Please, keep it quiet, he needs to sleep.”  
“Of course.”  
The old angel sat down on the small stool at the base of the bed, carefully pulling his energy back to avoid disturbing his lord's guest, he gave Yami a quick glance and greeted him with a gentle brush of aura before turning back to Lucifer.

“How is he doing?”  
“Better, he's healing well. He still needs a lot of sleep though.”  
“That's good to hear. He has a lot of friends here who have been very concerned about his visits with the healer.”  
“He will still need regular treatments for a while longer, but he will be fine.”  
Lucifer received a calculating look that made him want to squirm, his majordomo was one of the few creatures in existence who could elicit that feeling.  
“You have been worried too.”  
“I guess.”  
The slight hesitation in the answer made the older angel voice an amused trill that was the obsidian version of a tut.  
“Of course you have. You love him.”  
“You always did know me far too well.”  
“Such is the duty I have sworn myself to.”  
“You are far more than your duty, you are my oldest friend.”

The majordomo had been his best friend and father figure even before the fall, and he was the only one who had followed without hesitation, ignoring Lucifer's pleading that he not throw away his position.  
When he grew in power and awakened as an Avatar the elder angel submitted to him and became his general, then eventually as he formed his court, his majordomo, it was both a blessing and a curse to have someone who knew him so well as his majordomo.

“So, tell me old friend, will you offer him proper courtship?”  
“No, I can't...”  
The answer earned him a calculating look.  
“There's no doubt he would accept, so why not?”  
“If I court him he would no doubt feel compelled by honor to step up to the duties of First Imperial Consort, and he already has way too much on his shoulders.”  
“But you want to.”  
It wasn't a question and Lucifer nodded with a smile.  
“Yeah, he would make a very good mate. Strong, intelligent, caring and excellent leader skills, he'd be perfect as first consort.”  
“Personally I find his lack of personal ambition a desirable trait. He will do anything for the well being of his loved ones, but he does not seek power for himself, only to protect others.”  
“Indeed, that caring heart of his is a very endearing trait.”  
Lucifer knew the older angel had been concerned about his affection for Takeshi and his House at first, like so many others in positions of power he was often approached under the guise of friendship, or even love, by individuals who where only after his power.  
Somewhat unwilling to go deeper into the matter Lucifer changed the subject back to the assignment he had for his majordomo which earned him another tut.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Come on gorgeous, time to wake up.”  
Lucifer gave Takeshi a gentle nudge to wake him and was rewarded with a barely intelligible whistle that made him cock his head in confusion.  
“Okay, I think it might be a good idea if you wake up before trying to speak obsidian...”  
“I said _Go swim in a stockpot!_ now let me sleep...”  
Getting confirmation that Takeshi had actually intended to say what it sounded like he shook his head with a smile.  
“On second thought though, maybe you should just sleep some more...”  
There was no answer as Takeshi was already asleep again so Lucifer just reached out for the nearest servant and asked them to invite House Shamarai to his private garden for some breakfast.

“Good morning everyone.”  
“Morning Uncle Lucy!”  
The guards just shook their heads with a smile, they had grown accustomed to the overly familiar address used by the children of House Shamarai and knew their lord didn't mind in the least.  
“Where's Take?”  
“Your dear alpha is still sleeping, and I think I'll let you guys wake him.”  
“Oh?”  
Everyone were giving Lucifer some very curious looks.  
“Well, when I tried to wake him, he told me to go swim in a stockpot, whatever that means...”  
The instant laughter at Takeshi's version of Emelie's complaints only served to make Lucifer look even more confused, but once Munin took pity on him and explained he joined the laughter.  
“Oh, you are more than welcome to have me for breakfast if that's what you want.”  
The teasing quip only made Takeshi, who had been awakened by the ruckus, grumble and glare, he was clearly still in a bit of a daze.  
“Aw, don't be like that.”  
Leaning in Lucifer tried to steal a kiss only to end up on the floor with Takeshi's wolf form pinning him down.  
“I surrender, I surrender. Have mercy!”  
The mock fight helped soothe the others' worries and by the time Takeshi allowed Lucifer to get up they were once again relaxed.

“Has Take been sleeping like this all the time since he broke the seal?”  
The annoyed growl from Takeshi was answer enough for Lucifer, but he waited for a proper answer anyway.  
“It was worse before the treatments started, he slept extremely much even by human standards at first, over 12 hours a day, now he's down to a more normal human rhythm with 8 to 10 hours a day.”  
Amanda wasn't bothered by the low growl telling her that Takeshi was not happy about her telling Lucifer just how bad it really was.  
“And normal for him is?”  
“3 to 4 hours once or twice a week. Sometimes an extra night or two if he has spent a lot of energy on something.”  
Lucifer quickly translated the given information to Obsidian Halls time and nodded, it sounded like a fairly normal sleep pattern for a demon.  
“Okay, thank you Manda. You are a diligent beta.”  
“Thanks, our stubborn alpha needs someone to look after him sometimes.”  
“Indeed.”  
The alpha in question was still growling, but now it was more a display of stubborn defiance than actual annoyance.  
“Oh shush, your beta is right, you sometimes need someone to grab you and give you a good shake.”  
The flash of fangs didn't deter Lucifer, though he did pull his aura back slightly and raise his hands, not wanting to trigger Takeshi's defiant streak anymore than he already had.

“Take, in light of this information I want you to step up your treatments.”  
There was another growl and flash of fangs, this time accompanied by a slightly sharper flare of power.  
“No Take, please listen to him.”  
Takeshi instantly deflated when his loved ones pulled together into a united front behind Lucifer.  
“Fine..! Step up how?  
There was still a sharp edge in his voice which earned him a full set of glares.  
“Take, don't be like that. We're all worried about you!”  
“Okay, okay. I'm sorry...”  
He sighed deeply and turned his attention back to Lucifer.  
“What kind of changes did you have in mind?”  
“Nothing complicated, I just want you to be treated more frequently.”  
“How often?”  
“Every 5 hours.”  
“So 10 times each cycle?”  
“Yes. I would be helping the healer with them so you don't need to get used to someone else touching you in such a way.”  
“Okay, you guys win...”  
The energy of the group instantly shifted and closed up around him, offering support, showing their approval.

“Do you have the energy to start the extra treatments now?”  
After a moment of consideration Takeshi decided that it would be for the best to show the others how the treatments were done, how he reacted during the treatments.  
“Yeah, I do. You want them to see? To feel?”  
Takeshi just nodded while focusing of steadying himself.  
“See what?”  
Nelly was instantly concerned.  
“During the treatments my mental and spiritual shields are completely down, exposing the core of my soul. If I'm to go through it with such frequency I need you to have seen it, I need to be comfortable with having you around.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
Everyone quickly nodded their understanding.

“Come here, gather closer. I'll guide you through what I'm doing.”  
Lucifer motioned for everyone to come closer to where he and Takeshi were seated.  
“Start by calming your energies, let down the edges of your walls, become a soft buffer for the exposed core of his soul.”  
He waited until the energies around him took on a warm, soft, feel.  
“That's good, you are doing great. Now try to push closer, be calm and gentle, but apply a bit of pressure, be a soft, but solid, support for him. Let him lean on you, be his safety net.”  
The way the auras around him and Takeshi responded surprised him slightly, he hadn't expected them to have such good control.  
“You have excellent control. I'm going to begin now, if you want to you can allow your energies to synchronize with mine, let me guide you. Just remember to be gentle and careful now that his shields are down.”

There was no answer, just a feeling of calm understanding and when Lucifer began pushing his aura against Takeshi's exposed soul, encouraging the fractures to heal he could feel the strong energy of Takeshi's loved ones join in, gentle, supportive, and brimming with a love that nearly overwhelmed him for a moment before he could separate their emotions from his own.  
Moments later Takeshi's soul rose in response, overwhelming love and absolute trust, and the feeling of being included in that trust, of being drawn into their unity made him smile, and he could feel his own energies settling down even further and becoming easier to control.  
When he was done and pulled his energy back Lucifer could feel residual energy clinging to him in the form of strong bonds, part claim, part acceptance, inviting him to remain a part of their unity and for a moment he was nearly overwhelmed by the sense of belonging, and he accepted without hesitation.

“How did it go?”  
It took a while before anyone spoke, everyone focused on allowing the new bonds to settle, and on slowly reforming the soft, pliable, shields that they used when in private, not bothering with the tougher, more solid barriers used against those who were not apart of their family.  
“You were amazing. Your energies really helped make the treatment more effective. I must say, I'm impressed with the amount of control you have for delicate work like this.”  
“Well, we do have quite a bit of practice. Take has his own way of teaching control.”  
“Oh?”  
Lucifer looked between Takeshi and the others.  
“I drop my shields and allow them to touch, to explore, trusting them not to hurt me.”  
“And they reward that trust by learning fast.”  
“Indeed they do.”  
“Pretty sure all of us caused him quite a bit of pain before we learned, more than he allowed us to sense.”  
Amanda's words made Takeshi duck his head slightly.  
“And I'm pretty sure I was the worst of us all, I used to dig in really deep and hard before I learned control.”  
“You obviously learned really well.”  
“Yeah, I did.”  
Her blush caused a round of their usual fond teasing and Lucifer basked in the feelings washing over the bonds, he knew they all loved each other, but feeling it was quite a different thing.

“Is this how you always feel when you are alone? Soft barriers, warm, entwined?”  
“Yeah, when we feel safe and there are no outsiders around, when it's just family.”  
“It's a good feeling. Thank you, all of you, for accepting me like this.”  
“We weren't sure you'd accept.”  
“Honestly, had you tried to offer it before I felt you now while treating Take I wouldn't have, but feeling you all without shields or barriers, it left me wanting, made me realize I miss not having deep family bonds of my own. My bonds with my children are different, they are mine, but there's not this deep sense of belonging, of unity.”  
When Lucifer's energy turned pensive he quickly found himself being the focus of Kara's attention as the crow landed on his shoulder and used her beak to carefully preen the feathers she could reach..  
“Lucy is flock now. Flock take care of flock's own.”  
“Indeed, family is important.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Hello hot stuff.”  
Bran greeted Dan with a big hug and a quick kiss before turning to Emelie and Eric to greet them as well  
“So you're the guy who has Danny here all smitten.”  
He made a show of giving Eric a good once over before breaking into a wide smile.  
“Congratulations, you are one lucky dude to snag him.”  
“Bran, be nice. If you go on like that he might end up getting the wrong idea.”  
Dan's laughing scolding only served to make Eric look even more confused.  
“What Dan is trying to say is that he and Bran occasionally get together for a no strings romp, but they are in agreement that they are not interested in a relationship beyond being friends with benefits.”  
Emelie's explanation had Eric nodding in understanding.  
“Oh, okay.”  
“Don't worry Eric, if you want me to I'll back off. I have no intention of getting between you, being friends is more important.”  
Bran instantly turned serious.  
“No, it's okay. I trust Dan, and him considering you an okay guy is enough for me, at least until I get to know you better.”  
“A very reasonable approach. And don't worry, Dan won't willingly betray anyone's trust.”  
“I know.”  
“Don't worry Bran, he knows what we are.”  
“I kinda figured since that's obviously not a normal kitten.”  
Bran nodded toward Leiia and was rewarded with an annoyed yowl as she complained about being called a kitten.

“Indeed, Eric has a beautiful little familiar. Her name is Leiia.”  
“Mind if I ask what she is? She looks like she's really alive.”  
“She's a little baby hellcat. Though, as a familiar she is mentally far more developed than her physical age. ”  
“Oh, a little hellkitten are we?”  
Another annoyed yowl was paired with a bit of a hiss.  
“Guess she doesn't like me...”  
Bran sounded somewhat dejected.  
“She doesn't like being called a kitten, she prefers cub.”  
“Aw, but hellkitten sounds so adorable, it suits a cute little thing like you perfectly.”  
This time the annoyed hiss was softer, clearly mollified by Bran's words about kitten sounding cuter than cub.  
“So, Leiia was it?”  
A soft mewl that was interpreted as confirmation followed.

“Would it be okay for me to scratch those ears and belly of yours without getting scratched or bitten? They look heavenly soft.”  
The soft purrs were inviting, but Bran did give Eric a quick glance and didn't touch Leiia until he received a slight nod.  
“Aw, you're even softer than you look.”  
The purring steadily grew louder and the soft head was bumping against his palm.

“As you can probably tell Bran's a habitual flirt and he can be seriously charming when he wants to.”  
Emelie explained a bit to Eric while they followed Bran to the workshop where the car was, she and Eric had fallen back a bit to allow Dan and Bran to catch up a bit.  
“Well, that seems to be the case with all the men, males, around you guys.”  
“Yeah, I guess. Oh, and just a heads up, Uncle Lucy's the same.”  
“Heh, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I might meet the actual Lucifer, as in the guy mentioned in the damned bible... And the fact that you guys call him _Uncle Lucy_...”  
“He's nothing like what the bible paints him out to be though.”  
“That's pretty obvious, you guys wouldn't be friends with him if he was.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Huh?”  
Eric was looking a bit confused again.  
“Remember, trust is important to us.”  
“Oh...”  
The slight blush made her smile and shake her head at him, he was settling in well into their madness, but sometimes he would get confused or overwhelmed.

“She's all ready and waiting for you Em.”  
Pulling aside the dust curtains Bran revealed a mostly stripped down R35 and next to it all the removed parts were mounted on mobile racks to give Emelie easy access to them.  
“I'll start easy.”  
She walked up to the hood and placed her hand against the stripped down metal allowing her aura to was over it.  
“Here goes.”  
Reaching for the necklace she always wore she detached the small vial and opened it and carefully shook out one of the small crystal grains.  
Placing the grain against the hood she began pouring energy into it and gradually it began to spread across the surface, eating into it, replacing the metal with crystal, converting the matter into crystal used up less of Emelie's power to accomplish the task.

“Okay, let's hook Angel up to this and see if she can alter the configuration.”  
The techs quickly swarmed them and a few minutes later a bunch of cables were connected to the crystal hood.  
“Okay Angel, start by trying to alter the color.”  
“Initiating test sequence.”  
The hood quickly changed from being clear as glass to a translucent white, but then nothing more happened and soon Angel announced that the test had failed to produce the desired result.  
“Okay, put together the data on that please. Meanwhile let's do the mechanical tests for a proper baseline.”  
Tanaka, the head of the mechanical engineering department, quickly gave Angel some instructions for how he wanted her to proceed with the tests.  
“Okay.”  
The mechanical tests did produce much better results, but Angel wasn't entirely satisfied with the response time and she wanted higher sensor resolution for the nanoscale surface.

“Let's run the test sequence again, this time with me being connected to the crystal.”  
Emelie suggested another round of tests to see if she could feel what the problem was.  
“Okay, but be careful, I don't want to give you a jolt.”  
“Don't worry Angel, I'll be careful.”  
She placed her hands on the hood and let her aura flow into it, synchronizing with the crystal so that she could feel what happened when Angel tried to alter it.  
“Oh! Okay, I feel it. I think I have an idea that might work.”

While Emelie worked together with Angel and the crew Dan sat back with Eric and Leiia, Dan wasn't really needed until they reached the driving stage of the tests so he spent the time helping Eric bond with Leiia.  
“Do you want to try to feed her?”  
“I'd love to. She probably won't let me though.”  
Dan took the small bottle with formula and as suspected she wouldn't take it and when Eric tried to ask her why he only got a vague response about instincts.  
“With Yami it worked when Ylian added yi's blood to the formula along with Take's so let's try that.”  
Together they added a few drops of Dan's blood, and they both sighed in relief when Leiia took the nipple after a few moments of hesitation.  
“Did she knead you this badly while you fed her?”  
Dan frowned slightly when he felt sharp claws digging in when Leiia began happily kneading his lap as she greedily drained the bottle.  
“Yeah, she did use quite a bit of claws.”  
“Guess we need to get you something to protect you from those claws for a while. A nice damra pelt should be perfect.”  
“Damra?”  
“It's a big demon rabbit. All fluffy and warm. Bet Leiia will love it and it will protect you from her claws until she's old enough to learn control.”  
“Oh, okay... She's really cute when she does that though.”  
“Yeah, but her claws are sharp and we don't want you to get hurt. Don't worry, you'll still feel her kneading, she just won't be able to cut you.”  
“I guess that's okay then.”  
The halfhearted grumble made Dan smile, he knew the feeling of wanting to be close to your familiar, he had been the same way at first, and even now the feeling made him unconsciously reach for Rai and scratch the furry head.

“Don't worry, as her form matures she will become fully aware of your human frailty and be able to control how much force she uses with you. Right now she's just a little baby and her familiar aspect doesn't have full control of the undeveloped body and mind.”  
“When did you become Take?”  
Eric's joking complaint about how the way Dan spoke had changed a bit and sounded more like Takeshi made Dan laugh and give him a kiss.  
“Apparently I can speak proper English when I want to.”  
“I prefer your sloppy style, it suits you.”  
“I've heard that before.”  
Dan huffed softly and checked how much was left in the bottle and finding it about a quarter full he settled back down and watched Leiia eat, happy that Eric settled down and enjoyed the moment as well.

“So, Eric, ready to see a brand new world?”  
With work done for the day Emelie had brought them all back to the island and now they were standing by the mistpool watching it swell and connect to the Obsidian Halls while Leiia batted playfully at a few wisps of mist.  
“I guess.”  
Eric's voice was strong, but Dan could feel a tightening of the grip on his hand as they stepped toward the mist.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Wow...”  
Eric was staring slack jawed at an obsidian noble in the demonic version of a transit station, something that earned him a bit of a glare and put his companions on edge as it could be taken as an insult.  
“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect.”  
Eric quickly realized what he was doing and bowed slightly in apology while Emelie translated his words to Urui to make sure there wouldn't be any misunderstandings.  
“It's my first time in the Obsidian Halls, or well, outside the human realm at all. And I was totally not prepared for how much larger a noble is than the obsidian angels I have met. You guys are totally amazing.”  
The honest apology, and appreciation, quickly soothed the angel who accepted the apology with a slight nod.  
“You have chosen well for your first visit, welcome to the black jewel of the realm.”  
“Thanks, from what little I have seen so far this place is... I don't know, I don't have the words...”  
Again the honest appreciation earned Eric some additional respect from the highborn angel who broke into a slight smile before excusing himself and entering the mist.

“I screwed up there, didn't I?”  
Eric sighed in relief, but he was clearly a bit shaken by the whole thing.  
“A bit. Staring is pretty rude, but you handled it really well, your aura was nice and calm, you spoke respectfully and honestly. Paired with the honest praise of the Obsidian Halls and its denizens it earned you some respect.”  
Dan tried to calm Eric down a bit while Emelie led the way toward their apartments.  
“I'll try to be more careful. It's just...”  
“Overwhelming?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Don't worry, we'll be here to back you up, and if you handle everything like that you should do just fine.”  
“I just don't want to get you guys in trouble or make you look bad.”  
“Don't worry, we can handle it.”

The moment they stepped into their private garden they were swarmed by everyone trying to welcome them, something that caused Leiia to voice a few scared yowls in objection, her instincts overriding the control of her familiar aspect.  
The hint of fear instantly had everyone calm and backing away slightly while watching her with avid curiosity.  
“Oh, is that you familiar?”  
“Mhm, this is my little Leiia.”  
“Aww, she such a cute little kitten.”  
This time Leiia didn't object to being called a kitten, instead she looked around with avid curiosity and headed toward the closest hand being held out for her.  
“Adorable...”  
“Will she grown up into an adult?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Oh my, a hellcat. That's a very interesting familiar.”  
No one was surprised that Ylian recognized Leiia's species.  
“A hellkitten?”  
“That's so adorable!”  
“Super cute!”

In between the cooing ooh's and aah's Leiia slowly tumbled from one person to the other to get to know them a bit, sniffing, licking and getting scratched.  
When she was done she started yowling impatiently at Eric who smiled and brought out his bag.  
“Could someone get me some warm water so I can make food for her?”  
The twin quickly promised to get it before darting away to the kitchen.  
“Oh, she's still nursing?”  
Takeshi was slightly surprised that Leiia was such a young creature.  
“Yeah, apparently she will be for a while longer. Something about it being easier to integrate a cute little kitten into my life than dumping a fully grown adult into it.”  
“I guess that does make sense.”  
He nodded and watched as Dan and Eric prepared the formula so they only needed to add some warm water.

”Take, do we have any damra pelts?”  
Dan had almost forgotten about the pelts when Leiia started pawing at his foot, reminding him of her claws.  
“Yeah, why?”  
“Little Leiia here loves to knead while she's eating and her claws are a bit too sharp for Eric.”  
“Ah, give me a moment and I'll bring a crate here so you can find a few nice pelts. I guess she will need a nice little den to sleep in as well.”  
While Takeshi spoke he set up the teleportation circle and after a few moments of going through his mental tally of the crates he brought one in.  
“One of these should do.”  
“Wow, they really are super soft. What do you think Leiia?”  
The happy kneading and purring the moment she was placed on the soft fur pelt was plenty enough answer and it made everyone smile.  
“Here's the water.”  
“Thanks girls.”  
Eric mixed the formula and with Dan's help some blood was added as well before he picked Leiia and the fur up and put it in his lap.  
Everyone watched Leiia eat and once she was done Eric took a puppy pad from the bag and placed her on it and she quickly relieved herself before begging to be picked up and promptly falling asleep.

“We should make a sand pit for her to relieve herself in. It's better to get her used to that as soon as possible.”  
Nelly pointed out that puppy-pads were an emergency solution.  
“Indeed, and we need to make her a den too.”  
Takeshi nodded in agreement.  
“How do we do that?”  
Eric was eagerly listening to all and any advice they had.  
“Well, for starters you need to put those fur pelts into your bed when you sleep so they get soaked in your calm scent and aura. To her you are safety and belonging, being surrounded by your scent and aura will help her stay calm.”  
“Okay, makes sense.”  
“We will make a nice basket to put the furs in that you can keep next to your bed, let her be close, but also letting her get used to sleeping in her own spot and keeping her in a safe spot where you won't accidentally roll over her or anything like that.”  
There was a teasing edge to Takeshi's words, everyone was well aware of Eric's whirlwind sleeping style, sleeping next to him was a sure way to end up both kicked and punched.  
“Thanks.”  
“We should make a backpack basket too so she can nap while we're out and about without Eric needing to carry her in his arms, and she will be able to perch in it to look around when she's too tired to walk herself.”  
Everyone quickly pitched in ideas for how to make sure Leiia would be safe and comfortable.

“Guys, we really need to get in touch with the Stable master too, and get proper food for her.”  
Dan reminded them that human realm puppy formula, even the special one they had made for Yami, wasn't really suitable for the young hellcat.  
“Don't worry Mate, I already took care of that. He promised he would mix up a few versions for us to try to see what she likes best.”  
Emelie soothed Dan with a smile.  
“Thanks Em... Mate...”  
She tutted teasingly at him before giving him a proper smooch which soon turned into more much to everyone's amusement.

“Eric, now that we have the basics down you really should go take a nap, it will help you adapt better to the energies here.”  
Takeshi's voice distracted Eric from watching Dan and Emelie.  
“What about Leiia? You know how I sleep...”  
“We can use the crate the pelts were stored in for her for now, she will be happy to sleep for a few hours now, she also needs to get used to the energy here.”  
“And don't worry, we will make sure there's a den for her in time for her next nap.”  
Amanda quickly reassured Eric that they would make sure he had everything he needed to take care of Leiia.  
“Thanks guys.”  
Eric looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment before speaking up again.  
“Take, is it okay if I take that nap here in the garden, where you guys are?”  
“Of course, if that makes you feel more comfortable then make yourself at home.”  
“Thanks...”  
“Remember we usually sleep as a pack, all of us in huge pile in the den.”  
“Only, you guys almost never sleep...”  
The grumbled complaint earned Eric some teasing snickers before he found himself being the target of fur missiles as they began throwing the pelts at him.  
“There you go, one garden bed.”  
“Assholes...”  
“Yeah yeah, we love you to.”  
Amanda's bright laughter was paired with a genuine warmth that made Eric blush for a moment before making himself comfortable.  
“You need to stay there Leiia so I don't hurt you while I sleep.”  
There were a few yowls in objection and she tried to crawl out of the box a few times, but Eric patiently placed her back in it and after about 10 minutes she accepted it and went to sleep.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shattered Heart_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Morning love.”  
Eric woke up to a kiss and a glass with what tasted a lot like a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri but it was bright blue.  
“What is this stuff?”  
“Well, they don't have coffee here, instead they have _Sumati_, it's like a blue kumquat that tastes like a lime strawberry thingy. It has a stimulant similar to caffeine in it that's enough to take the edge off even for total coffee addicts like me.”  
“Thanks. It's pretty good.”  
“Yeah, it is. And it will help you wake up.”  
Looking around Eric noticed that the light had changed somewhat.  
“How long did I sleep?”  
“About 6 hours.”  
“What?”  
“Don't worry, I took care of Leiia while you were out.”  
“Yeah, but still, I'm gonna be totally out of it when we go back to Hawaii...”  
“Remember the chronoshift, we'll be here for like a week before we need to get back.”  
“Oh, yeah... 10 to 1 was it?”  
“Mhm, and 50 hour days.”  
“That I actually remember.”  
“Good.”  
Dan teased lightly and helped Eric out of the bed.  
“Come on, the food is ready.”  
Eric found himself being dragged off to where the others were gathered and soon he was greeted by Leiia tumbling toward him with Rai following in his larger wolf form.

“Hello Leiia, did you behave while I was sleeping?”  
A few soft yowls was all the others heard as the young familiar tried to tell Eric what she had done while waiting for him to wake up.  
“Don't worry, she's been a real sweetheart and Rai is more than happy to keep an eye on her while she explores.”  
The raijū responded to Dan's strong feelings for Eric, triggering powerful demonic instincts telling him to prove himself, the value of the pack, to a potential mate.  
When Rai bumped his head against Eric's hand he carefully scratched behind the ear before running his hand down the long appendage and gently rubbing the false eye at the tip.  
“Thanks Rai.”

“Did you sleep well?”  
Takeshi's aura brushed against Eric's as he sat down in the offered spot by the low table, carefully checking for any signs of distress from exposure to the demon realm energies, but the shielding bracelet seemed to be working well.  
“Yeah.”  
“And how are you feeling?”  
“Had a pretty bad headache when I woke up, but that stuff Dan gave me seems to help.”  
“Yeah, they don't have caffeine here. The stimulant in sumati is similar, but far less addictive.”  
“Maybe I can kick the habit then.”  
“Maybe you can, and we are more than happy to supply you with fresh sumati, they are really good for you.”  
“But I gotta watch out what I eat and drink here, right?”  
“Yeah, some of the stuff that is consumed here is deadly to humans.”  
“Don't worry, we will help you.”  
“Yeah, we know lots of stuff that is safe.”  
“The familiars can help too!”  
Takeshi confirmed that he needed to be careful and the girls quickly promised to help.  
When Eric's eyes subconsciously ran across the food on the table the others snickered softly.  
“Don't worry, we made all this ourselves so you can just dig in.”  
“Great, cause I'm starving here!”  
“That's probably a side effect of being here, your body burns through more energy in order to adapt and protect itself.”  
“Whatever, feed me!”  
The mock impatience had everyone laughing and soon everyone was engaged in the usual chaos, mock fighting for choice pieces, though, everyone made sure Eric got his pick and was able to sample all the demon realm delicacies they had prepared.

“This sashimi is amazing... What is it?”  
“It's Zimara.”  
“And that is?”  
“A kind of demon octopus, only they can have hundreds of arms, and they have mouths like lamprey instead of suckers.”  
“Damn, those sounds like real nightmare monsters...”  
“Jupp, they are ugly as fuck, but totally delicious.”  
“Dan! Language!”  
Takeshi's scolding made everyone laugh.  
“It's true though.”  
Amanda stepped up and offered her fellow beta a bit of support.  
“Indeed, but there's no need for such crude language.”  
“Sorry...”  
“Hmpf, I guess I'll let you off the hook this time.”  
Takeshi huffed and tried to hide his smile, even if it was just over a small, inconsequential, matter, and not entirely serious, it pleased him that his pack and house were willing to stand up against him if they felt he was in the wrong.  
“Thank you Alpha.”

“Everyone ready to go show Eric the Obsidian Halls?”  
“Yes!”  
The answer was near deafening and made Leiia yowl in objection.  
“Okay, let's go then.”


	4. The Sum of Our Parts

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Are you sure you will be okay?”  
“Em, I'm pretty sure these two badass Royal Guards can keep me perfectly safe while you guys sneak off for a quickie.”  
Emelie, Dan and Eric had separated from the others to allow Emelie and Dan to work on their bond some more and they were currently taking a break in one of the parks to feed Leiia and let her do her business under the bushes where no one would be bothered by it.  
“We will be close enough to hear you, so call if there's trouble.”  
“I will alpha.”  
The addition of a slightly teasing _Alpha_ made Emelie huff and surrender.  
“Okay, be careful.”  
“I will.”  
Once they were in agreement that Eric would be fine being left alone for a while with just the pair of black clad guards Emelie and Dan snuck away to one of the many hidden spots in the park that offered privacy.  
  


“Leiia, don't run off too far now.”  
Eric gently scolded his familiar and gave their bond a gentle tug which made her stumble and fall over before scrambling back to her feet and running back to him as fast as her legs would carry her.  
Eric estimated that Emelie and Dan had been gone for about half an hour when two young angels approached him, clearly curious about Leiia.  
_“♪♫♪♪♫”_  
The younger said something in the Obsidian language, but all Eric could hear was chirps and whistles.  
“I'm sorry, I don't understand you.”  
Eric was somewhat distraught as the young angel was clearly trying to ask him something.  
“She wants to know if we can pet your _Umagai_.”  
Hearing the slightly older angel speak English made him do a double take.  
“You speak English?”  
“Mhm, mom made sure I learned it since we have ties to House Shamarai.”  
“Oh... I see... I'm Eric, Dan of House Shamarai is my boyfriend.”  
“I know, I can feel it.”  
The older of the pair pointed toward his bracelet.  
“I'm Ani, and this is my sister Looni. She's not very good at speaking other languages than Obsidian.”  
The younger angel responded by voicing a call that sounded very much like the haunting call of a Loon.  
“So can we pet her?”  
The somewhat abrupt change of topic threw Eric off for a moment, but he quickly recovered.  
“Well you will have to ask her. But be careful so you don't scare her, she's just a baby after all.”  
“Okay!”  
Eric assumed the happy chirp from the younger angel meant something similar as well and he watched carefully as the pair approached Leiia and then sat down a few steps away to allow her to come to them.  
  


“Oh, I see you have met Ani and Looni.”  
Eric almost jumped at Emelie's amused tone as she and Dan returned from their little romp, he had been far too occupied with keeping an eye on Leiia and the angel sisters.  
“Emmy!”  
“Danny!”  
Both the angels cried out and threw themselves at Emelie before turning on Dan.  
“Hello girls, are your parents around?”  
Dan couldn't see Brenna or her mate to be anywhere, but that didn't mean they weren't there.  
“Mm, Mom is over there and Dad went to get her some stuff for the egg.”  
“Oh, she's ready to lay again?”  
“Mhm!”  
“Come on, let's go see if Brenna is okay with us saying hi for a bit.”  
“Brenna?”  
Eric was clearly a bit overwhelmed again.  
“Brenna is the name I gave their mother. Little Looni here is Knight's daughter. Remember we told you about that?”  
“Oh, yeah, I remember. I would love to meet her, them, if that's okay.”  
“Well, if she's about to lay they might not be comfortable with an unfamiliar male being too close. But I don't think there will be any issues as you don't have any power so you won't register as a threat, and the guards will make them feel safer as well.”  
  


“Lady Em! Dan! I heard you guys were back for a visit.”  
Brenna greeted them with a wide smile when her girls came running and calling happily to her in the obsidian language.  
“Hi Brenna, how are you doing?”  
Emelie gave her a mock glare for calling her Lady, but Brenna just smiled and ignored it.  
“I'm good.”  
“And the egg?”  
Brenna sighed and gave her girls a fond glare for having told them already.  
“It shouldn't be more than a mark before I lay. Cormo is picking up some supplies for me.”  
“Oh, he has picked a name?”  
Last time they met Brenna her chosen male still hadn't picked a name for those unable to use his obsidian name to use.  
“Mhm, we went with your line of using names of human realm birds, and since his wings look a lot like those of a double-crested cormorant we agreed that Cormo would be a good name.”  
“An excellent choice, the Cormorants are known for being highly skilled fishers.”  
“He will be happy to hear that.”  
“What about you and Ani, how did you get your names?”  
Eric was curious about how the angels had received their names.  
“I gave Brenna her name based on the Celtic name Bran, meaning raven.”  
“And I bet she is not just as beautiful as one, but every bit as clever as well.”  
“Indeed.”  
Brenna instantly turned a few shades darker, the honest assessment making her blush.  
“What about you Ani?”  
Eric's curiosity made him turn to Ani and ask her about her name.  
“When I was a baby my signature call sounded like a groove-billed ani.”  
“Ani, your name still sounds like an ani.”  
Prompted by Dan's soft teasing Ani said her obsidian name so Eric would get to hear it.  
“Okay, now you lost me...”  
Eric was shaking his head in confusion.  
“Newly hatched obsidian angels quickly develop a signature call that is unique for each individual, this call eventually develops into our obsidian name.”  
Brenna patiently explained how obsidian angels got their names.  
“Oh, that makes sense.”  
Eric continued to ask Brenna about obsidian culture, especially things relating to their offspring and she was more than happy to help educate him about their ways.  
  


“Shirai Miri-Yema! Shamarai-Iero!”  
Cormo had approached in a hurry when he noticed Brenna wasn't alone and he almost dropped the baskets he was carrying when he realized who she was with.  
“Cormo, what have I said about using such titles?”  
Emelie glared at him for using the very formal titles.  
“Apologies Lady Em.”  
“It's Em, nothing more unless formality requires it.”  
Her scolding made Cormo glance at the Royal Guards with a somewhat hesitant posture, he was clearly concerned that their presence was that of an Honor Guard for Emelie.  
“They are here to protect Eric and make sure everyone knows he is to be treated as a diplomat for the human realm. They have nothing to do with me or how you address me.”  
Cormo's wings quickly began drooping and the soft chirps spoke of remorse and a hint of stress.  
“Easy there, no need to get worked up. Go take care of your lovely simora instead. We don't want her to be agitated when laying her egg.”  
Emelie's teasing words instantly had Cormo focused on Brenna and the chirps turned reassuring, supportive, and calming.  
  


“Em, would you like to help me again?”  
Brenna was showing signs of agitation and was shifting her seat with increasing frequency, signaling that she was very close to laying her egg.  
“Of course Brenna, I'd be honored to.”  
Emelie quickly moved closer to Brenna and moments later they were hidden behind the large, black, wings.  
“Cormo, relax. You know the girls have this.”  
“I am concerned, she is very early.”  
“She is?”  
“Yes, she is not supposed to lay for another 10 cycles.”  
“Oh, that is very early...”  
Obsidian angels only carried their eggs for a short time, so 10 full days early was a lot.  
“I understand you're worried, but it won't do either of you any good if you stress out over it, she will need you to be there, to be strong and calm if something is wrong.”  
Dan's presence instantly shifted into a serious and supportive one, projecting a very alpha like energy that calmed the worried angel down a bit.  
  


A few minutes later Emelie's head peeked out from under Brenna's wings and Cormo was instantly there, hovering in obvious concern as the wings had not returned to their normal position as they would have if Brenna was done laying.  
“Cormo, we need you to go fetch another basket.”  
“What, why?”  
“Brenna is laying more than one egg.”  
“Oh.”  
Cormo gave the guards a hesitant look, unwilling to leave Brenna despite trusting House Shamarai not to hurt her.  
“Don't worry, we will make sure they remain safe.”  
There was a short chirp of gratitude before Cormo hurried away to find another basket and some warm furs.  
“Eric, would you come here please, we could use another set of hands, and Brenna says you feel safe.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
  


After handing Leiia to Dan Eric carefully peeked under the feathery barrier and found a slightly distressed Brenna holding a large egg in her arms while Emelie was trying to clean her a bit while also supporting her and trying to keep her from sitting back down.  
The second egg had already began slipping down the modified birthing canal and could be damaged if Brenna sat down.  
“Eric, I need you to take the egg and use those towels to clean it, then wrap it in those soft hides and place it in the basket.”  
“O-okay...”  
Eric held his hand out to Brenna who voice what sounded like a warning before placing the egg in his hands.  
“Wow, it's really heavy, and warm...”  
Eric was slightly surprised when Brenna let go of the egg, but he quickly recovered and began carefully cleaning the deep black egg.  
“It's really beautiful.”  
Eric was practically cooing at the egg which made Brenna voice a few pleased chirps between the agitated calls that showed her stress at not being able to sit down to wait for the next egg.  
  


“Why won't it come?”  
Brenna was slowly growing distressed when the second egg wouldn't move.  
“You need to relax, the more tense you are the harder it will be for the egg to move down.”  
“I'm trying!”  
“Ssh, easy girl. Easy...”  
Emelie was growing slightly concerned as well since Brenna was only goring more and more tense.  
“Brenna, is it okay with you if I call Take here? He can help you.”  
“Okay...”  
Emelie instantly dove into her mating bonds, telling Dan what was going on and giving Takeshi a sharp tug which had him appearing through the shadows moments later.  
“Whoa! Cormo, easy, stand down. Take is here to help. The second egg isn't moving so we need to get Brenna to relax, and Take is really good at that.”  
Dan quickly tried to get the agitated male to calm down and after a few moments his words combined with Takeshi's non-threatening energy allowed Cormo to relax.  
  


“Hello Brenna, I hear your egg is giving you some trouble.”  
Takeshi kept his voice light and he was rewarded with an annoyed trill.  
“I'm going to touch your belly to see if I can get a better feel for the position of your egg. It has probably just ended up being tilted sideways.”  
“Okay...”  
Using his energy and a gentle touch Takeshi carefully began to palpate Brenna's lower abdomen and he could quickly confirm his suspicion.  
“The life-flame is strong and stable, but the egg is sideways, and the tension in you body is keeping it from moving.”  
He spoke in a hushed voice while trying to get the egg to turn, glad that he had taken the time to thoroughly study obsidian reproductive health.  
“Em, was there a lot of discharge after the first egg?”  
“Yeah, there was a lot more than last time.”  
“I think the outer membranes may have been stuck together, causing the first egg to pull the membrane of the second egg out as well.”  
Obsidian eggs were covered by a thick outer membrane consisting of a slick mucus that made it easier to pass them through the relatively narrow birth canal, it acted almost like a second amniotic sac..  
“A dry laying would explain the symptoms.”  
“Brenna, did you hear us?”  
“Yes...”  
“I have an idea we can try, but if that doesn't work we will bring you to the healer through the shadows.”  
“Okay...”  
  


Takeshi quickly reached within and brought out the small bottle of the special lubricant the Mother had created for him, the substance was extremely slick, and slightly numbing.  
“Em, your hands are smaller so you need to do this. Rub this along the canal and try to get as much as you can on the egg and make it turn.”  
“Okay.”  
Emelie held her hands out to him and she winced slightly as he breathed power over her hands to sterilize them, then he poured some of the thick liquid into them.  
“Brenna, lean on me.”  
“Okay.”  
While Takeshi supported Brenna Emelie reached into her body and began gently trying to cover the egg in the slick substance and make it turn.  
Takeshi could feel the moment the egg began moving as Brenna went limp against him as the tension let go.  
“There you go, another beautiful egg.”  
They allowed Brenna to brush her fingers over the egg before handing it to Eric so he could clean it and place it into the second basket.  
  


The moment Brenna's wings unfurled they found themselves being pushed away by a highly agitated Cormo who began checking on Brenna and their eggs.  
“How is she?”  
Looking around revealed that everyone had followed Takeshi to the park and were now surrounding Brenna at a respectful distance.  
“She'll be fine, it was just a dry laying.”  
“Oh, good.”  
“Are the eggs okay too?”  
“Yeah, they are a bit smaller than normal, but the life-flames are nice and strong.”  
“Good, we were worried.”  
The girls' concern had been obvious from their energies, and once assured that mother and eggs were all safe and sound they began relaxing.  
  


“Can you tell the sexes yet?”  
Brenna's question made Takeshi turn to her.  
“Indeed I can, one male and one female.”  
“Good, we were really hoping for a son this time.”  
“You are going to have you hands full now.”  
“Indeed...”  
Cormo huffed in a rather theatrical manner which made Brenna smack him on the head with her wing.  
“Don't worry, were not having any more for a while, we agreed that we would take a break with kids after we either had a son, or four in total.”  
“So you're going to let these grow up and fly the nest first?”  
“Yeah.”  
“It's not as bad as my dear simaro makes it sound though, Ani is a great help with watching over Looni.”  
“Of course she is, she's my little sweetie. And there's no way my beautiful little Looni is anything but an angel.”  
Emelie's cooing praise had everyone laughing which helped Brenna and Cormo relax.  
“Now, how about Ylian and I make sure Brenna gets home safely so she can rest?”  
Takeshi tutted at the others, subtly reminding them that Brenna should rest.  
“Okay, see you guys later!”  
Everyone quickly said their goodbyes before Takeshi and Ylian brought the angel family though the shadows to their home.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Take, can I have a word with you in private?”  
It was the last day before Eric, Dan and Emelie would return to Mandrake and the healer had just left after giving Takeshi his treatment.  
“Of course.”  
Eric was just about to ask where to go when he felt a shiver in his bond with Leiia.  
_“This is one of the reasons why we have the familiars, to give you access to the telepathic ability of the blessed.”_  
“Oh...”  
_“Just focus on Leiia and let her transmit your thoughts to me.”_  
_“Like this?”  
“That's right. I can hear you loud and clear.”_  
Eric did give the others a quick glance, but everyone was ignoring them.  
_“Don't worry, you familiar only transmits this to me unless you want her to broadcast to anyone else.”  
“Good.”  
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”  
“When Dan gave me the bracelet you mentioned something about helping me find something to give him.”  
“Of course. Do you want to go look for a courting gift for him now?”  
“Is that alright? Aren't you supposed to rest?”  
“It is, the rest I need is spiritual, not physical.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
“So, do you want to go now?”  
“Sure.”  
_

“Guys, I'm taking Eric to the market.”  
When Dan instantly got up to take his position as the beta to go with them Takeshi shook his head at him.  
“Not this time love.”  
Dan looked surprised for a moment, then he nodded in acceptance.  
“Ylian, would you take this one? I promised I would teach Ani and Looni how to make wagashi and show them the chadō.”  
“Of course. Have fun.”  
“I will, they have been begging me to teach them so I'm sure they will behave.”  
“I'm sure they will.”  
Ylian gave Amanda a quick kiss before joining Takeshi and Eric, but before they could leave there was a shiver in the barriers telling them that Lucifer was asking permission to enter.  
“I guess we are waiting a few more minutes.”  
Takeshi laughed and gave the barrier a nudge telling Lucifer that he was welcome to enter.  
“Hello Uncle Lucy.”  
“Hello ladies.”  
“What can we do for you?”  
Takeshi was curious why the old angel had dropped by.  
“Just wanted to talk to you a bit.”  
“Well, you will either have to wait, or join Eric, Ylian and me to the market.”  
“Cheeky...”  
Lucifer mock complained when Takeshi demanded he adjust his plans to theirs, but they could all feel he was more than happy to.  
“Sorry, but Dan's simoro comes first.”  
“Of course he does, let's go visit the market.”  
“Have fun guys!”  
“Don't worry, we will.”  
  


“So, may I ask why Ylian is joining us instead of Dan when taking young Eric to the market?”  
“Because we're going there to help Eric find a courting gift for Dan.”  
“Oh, of course. That shielding bracelet was his gift for you?”  
“Yeah. And I have no idea what to give him, but I want to give him something.”  
“A noble intent.”  
“I don't know how I can ever match it though, he gave me his life...”  
Lucifer looked confused for a moment before realizing what Eric meant, that the bracelet allowed him to be part of all aspects of Dan's life, not just the human realm parts.  
“I believe your acceptance is more than enough in his eyes.”  
“I know...”  
“But you still want to give him something.”  
It wasn't really a question.  
“Yeah... I just... I don't... I...”  
“You want to give him something that shows your claim on him.”  
Eric instantly turned bright red which made the others snicker at him a bit.  
“Don't worry we will assist you.”  
Lucifer reached out to give Eric a supportive pat on the back, but the moment he touched him Eric jumped noticeably.  
  


“Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?”  
“No. I'm fine. It's just, when someone touches me I can feel their power despite the bracelet, and you are crazy strong...”  
“What? Why haven't you said anything?”  
Eric instantly had Takeshi's full attention.  
“It hasn't really been that noticeable until now.”  
“Come here.”  
There was a sharp edge of concern in Takeshi's voice that made Eric do as asked without objections and soon he found himself being probed Takeshi's energy.  
“Would you touch him again please?”  
“Of course.”  
Another gentle touch made Eric shiver slightly, but this time he was prepared for it so the reaction wasn't as strong.  
“Ah, I see. I see.”  
Takeshi hummed as he felt the interactions between the various energies.  
“What?”  
“The barrier protecting you from the energies can't function at full capacity when the source of the power physically pushes past it.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
“I will be mindful not to touch you then Eric.”  
“It's okay. It's just a slight jolt, like a static discharge.”  
“Static discharge?”  
Lucifer's confused look made Takeshi charge his finger with power and then tap the old angel on the arm which made him jump slightly with a startled chirp.  
“That's pretty much how a static discharge feels.”  
“Oh. Startling, but not painful.”  
“Yeah.”  
“I will be mindful anyway.”  
“Thanks.”  
  


“So, you want the gift to be something that others will see, right?”  
Lucifer continued to take charge a bit and Takeshi didn't mind, if the old angel wanted to help Eric find a suitable courting gift he was more than welcome to it.  
“Yeah...”  
“So jewelry then.”  
“I guess, but Dan already wears so many beautiful pieces... Special pieces...”  
“Most of that stuff are reproductions of pieces I bought him the first time we went out, the first time we were truly intimate.”  
Takeshi supplied the background story of most of Dan's jewelry.  
“The only really special ones are the two dragon bracelets, and the helix earpiece.”  
“Oh?”  
Eric was clearly curious to hear more about them.  
“The earpiece is a courting gift from Ylian, one of the bracelets was a gift from me before I left for this place the first time, and it was made to look like the bracelet I gave him for our first _date_ of sorts. The second one was a courting gift.”  
“I guess maybe I should be looking at rings or necklaces then.”  
“That would probably be a good place to start. But remember, what truly matters is that it feels right for you.”  
Eric just sighed and shook his head at Takeshi's reminder.  
“I have just the place, come on, this way.”  
Lucifer quickly dragged them toward one of the corners of the marketplace.  
  


When Takeshi, Ylian and Eric stepped into the combined workshop and store they received a few less than happy looks, especially Leiia, but the moment Lucifer stepped inside everyone instantly ignored them and focused entirely on him.  
The quick conversation in the obsidian language that followed sounded decidedly like a scolding and the angel managing the large store section hurried over to Eric to show him their wares under Lucifer's watchful eye.  
“I don't know, none of these earrings talks to me...”  
“Then let's look at the necklaces.”  
Takeshi didn't let Eric mull over the lack of items he found interesting.  
“Okay.”  
While looking at the first section with necklaces Leiia began squirming and mewling which told them that she was getting bored of being carried so Eric quickly set her down on the floor.  
“Don't go wandering off now.”  
Eric's concern was rewarded with a few growling sounds that quite clearly told everyone that Leiia considered herself quite capable of staying safe on her own.  
“Don't worry Eric, I'll keep an eye on her.”  
Lucifer offered to babysit with a soft smile.  
“Thanks.”  
  


“I think something like this would look nice on him.”  
Eric motioned toward a silver choker in a flat, herringbone style.  
“These look nice too.”  
Two more chains, a byzantine and foxtail was added as well and it would seem Eric had settled for giving Dan a necklace.  
“Hmm, what have you found that is so interesting?”  
Lucifer's amused curiosity quickly drew the attention from the displays to Leiia who was yowling and trying to climb one of the shelves.  
The shopkeeper was about to object, but a sharp flare of Lucifer's power instantly changed his mind.  
“She has definitely found something she likes.”  
Takeshi laughed as the annoyed familiar fell down once again when she was too small to reach the next shelf.  
“Come here Leiia. I'll help you.”  
Lucifer held out his hands for her and moments later she was squirming slightly in his grip as he held her up toward the various displays and he did is best to interpret her squirming to figure out what way she wanted him to move her.  
“And I think we have a winner.”  
Lucifer quipped with a smile when Leiia eagerly tried to reach one of the necklaces on display batting wildly at the air, then the display cover.  
  


“Wow, it's beautiful.”  
Eric reached out for the flat choker in the shape of a winged rainbow serpent and the moment he touched it the colors came to life under his touch.  
“It's perfect...”  
Eric was clearly completely taken by the choker, but Takeshi found himself struggling against a deep pain as it reminded him of Matthews' familiar.  
“Take, what's wrong?”  
Even Eric picked up on it and inquired about what was wrong.  
“Remember I told you about Thomas Matthews?”  
“Yeah, he was like a father to you.”  
“He was, and his familiar was a winged rainbow serpent.”  
“Oh, I'm sorry.”  
“Don't be. It just reminded me of him.”  
For a moment Eric looked really uncomfortable, then he straightened himself up and squared his shoulders.  
“I'm sorry, but you'll have to get used to it because this is perfect...”  
“I know it is, it even responded to your touch. And don't worry, I'll get used to it.”  
Takeshi's smile was soft, but Ylian and Lucifer could both feel that his aura was singing with pride that Eric both cared, and stood his ground.  
“We are taking this. Charge it to me.”  
“Yes my Lord.”  
“Eric, why don't you add a few nice pieces for yourself too? You did mention intending to shop for some more demon style fashion and we do tend to wear quite a bit of jewelry.”  
“I've noticed...”  
“Go on, decorate away, I'll be paying.”  
Lucifer's teasing quip, and promise to pay for it, instantly had Takeshi and Ylian selecting a wide range of items they believed would fit Eric, and also picked out a few paired items for him and Dan to wear.  
  


“Welcome back.”  
Emelie's tone was clearly amused when Eric and his escorts returned.  
“Ah, my favorite... Christmas tree?”  
Dan was shaking with barely restrained laughter, Eric had been decorated with an absurd amount of jewelry and was looking somewhat silly, even Leiia was wearing a fancy collar that had no doubt once been intended to be a woman's bracelet..  
“They're insane...”  
“Mhm...”  
Dan just hummed and gave Eric a deep kiss before turning to the culprits behind Eric's current state of decoration.  
“Now, who said you guys could go poke holes in my simoro?”  
Dan gently brushed his fingers against Eric's freshly pierced earlobes while glaring at Takeshi, Ylian and Lucifer, his protective instincts rising to the forefront.  
“I did..!”  
Eric huffed and tugged at Dan's hair to make him change his focus, they had warned him about how Dan would probably react to the piercings.  
“And it's okay, Take did them with a crystal needle dipped in his blood. It didn't even hurt.”  
Reassured that there hadn't been any pain Dan calmed down, then started laughing.  
“I'm acting like Take, aren't I?”  
“Mhm.”  
“Very alpha like.”  
There were plenty of teasing quips as they gathered back in the garden.  
  


“Dan, I did find what I was looking for.”  
“Oh?”  
“Will you accept my courting gift?”  
Eric held out the small box with the necklace.  
“Of course.”  
Dan quickly removed the simple necklace he was wearing and allowed Eric to place the larger piece around his neck  
“I like it, it's different. And they helped you infuse your aura into it.”  
“Mhm.”  
“Thanks guys.”  
“It's the least we can do to help Eric feel more comfortable with this courtship.”  
Dan and Eric were both blushing, and when Lucifer stepped up to Dan he cursed softly.  
“Aw shit.. I forgot...”  
“Forgot what?”  
“Demon traditions...”  
Dan didn't get to explain as Lucifer grabbed him by the chin and kissed him deeply.  
“Ah delicious.”  
Dan just spluttered and blushed while trying to find his words again.  
“It's demon tradition to celebrate a courtship, or mating, by triggering possessive instincts.”  
When Dan didn't recover fast enough for Lucifer's taste he began explaining himself.  
“By kissing the involved parties?”  
“Indeed. But if you're uncomfortable with the idea of me giving you a proper kiss a simple kiss on the forehead is enough to satisfy the tradition.”  
“I... I think I can handle it.”  
“Excellent.”  
Lucifer was significantly more gentle as he leaned in and gave Eric a soft kiss and the moment he stepped back Dan pounced on Eric and dragged him away toward one of the small bedrooms.  
  


“I must say, your Dan has excellent taste. His simoro is quite delicious.”  
Lucifer's appreciative hum quickly had everyone laughing and teasing.  
“You're just as bad as Take!”  
“I most certainly am not!”  
Lucifer's wings bristled as he denied the accusation and everyone froze for a moment, uncertain if they had truly overstepped.  
“I am the elder here, naturally he is just as bad as me!”  
The laughter that followed left them all gasping for air.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Welcome back, how was your stay at the Obsidian Halls?”  
Angel greeted Emelie, Dan and Eric the moment they returned through the mist.  
“Hi Angel.”  
“It was amazing. That place is insane.”  
“So I have heard.”  
“I really hope they find a way to let you visit, there's so much to see. You would love it.”  
“I'm sure they will, none of us truly age so there is time.”  
  


With some basic greetings exchanged Emelie grabbed Dan and Eric and brought them to Mandrake where they were greeted by Bran, Tanaka and the crew.  
“I'm sorry were a bit late, transdimensional travel can be a bit of a bitch.”  
There had been quite a queue at the transit station with a lot of mist travel which took a while since the mist needed to recover and readjust for each traveler.  
“Don't worry, it gave us time to set up for the next batch of tests.”  
“Good, let's get to work.”  
Emelie dove into it with a smile while Dan and Eric took a seat in the pile of pillows that had been set out for them, neither of their skills were needed and Eric was suffering from a touch of something akin to jetlag and didn't really want to do anything but cuddle and watch over Leiia.  
  


“Now that cuddle pile looks like a worthwhile endeavor.”  
After doing some initial setups Bran took a tablet and retreated to the rest area to join Dan and Eric.”  
“Mhm...”  
“You guys have room for one more?”  
Dan and Eric shared a quick look before they both nodded and invited Bran to join them and he quickly made himself comfortable curled into Dan's side.  
“That new neckpiece of yours looks really nice. It's different, but it really suits you.”  
“Thanks, It's Eric's courting gift.”  
“Oh, I'll make sure not to touch it then.”  
Bran quickly pulled his hand back as he had been reaching out to touch the bright metal.  
“I don't mind, so if it's okay with Dan...”  
“I don't know...”  
Bran knew Dan well enough to know that the hesitant reply was permission to touch, and a plea to be careful, so he carefully reached out and brushed his fingers against the metal, and when Dan shivered slightly he pulled back again.  
“Sorry.”  
“It's okay, it wasn't too bad, but I think I prefer if we avoid touching it for now. It will get better with time.”  
“Yeah. That's probably for the best.”  
Bran quickly settled back down, checked a few numbers on his tab, then turned to Eric.  
“So how are you handling things?”  
”This realm traveling sucks...”  
“Oh?”  
“Jet lag from hell...”  
“Ah. Understandable I guess.”  
Bran slowly moved over a bit so he could reach Eric's shoulders and began kneading them carefully, paying attention to Dan's reactions, and when Eric began relaxing so did Dan.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


Over the course of the following weeks they fell into a comfortable pattern, Emelie, Dan and Eric would spend about 9 hours in the human realm working with Angel and Mandrake to complete Takeshi's R35, then they would return to the Obsidian Halls and spend 3 cycles there and then head back.  
By the end of the 3rd week human time the Obsidian Healer had deemed Takeshi almost fully recovered and no longer in need of treatments, but he also advised that they should stay in the Obsidian Halls as Takeshi would probably need a boost of energy once the fragments of his soul snapped into place properly, much like how he had when he gained the ability of true transformation into apex lifeforms.  
  


“Aw, look at Leiia, I think she's about ready to start being weaned.”  
Leiia had been increasingly curious about the food being served, and had developed a huge appetite that the special formula didn't seem to be able to fully sate anymore.  
“I guess today will be a visit to the stables then.”  
Everyone quickly agreed that going to get some dietary advice for Leiia was a good way to spend the day.  
“We should bring some nice food and make it a picnic.”  
“You two really do think with your stomachs, don't you?”  
Eric laughed as the twins demand they make it a picnic.  
“What? We like good food!”  
“Were still growing stronger, we need the energy.”  
“You are gluttons, plain and simple.”  
The teasing banter continued back and forth while they worked on filling several large baskets with food and place them on the teleportation circle.  
  


“Come on, let's go!”  
Everyone was energetic, even the two guards assigned to them had a distinct buzz to their auras telling everyone that they were looking forward to spending some time at the stables which were located at the edge of a large meadow.  
When they arrived the Stable Master was more than happy to give them lessons in how to feed Leiia.  
“_Umagai_ are predators and like their mortal counterparts the cats they are obligate carnivores.”  
“So Leiia's species is called Umagai?”  
“That's right.”  
Eric looked quite confused as he looked between Takeshi and the Stable Master as the latter spoke very little English.  
“Didn't you say something about umarita?”  
“Umagai is a lesser offshoot of the umarita. Umarita would translate as hellfox, while umagai is hellcat.”  
“Any more hell species I should know of?”  
“Well, there is the _Umatzan_.”  
“Which is?”  
“Hellhound, the species of the legendary Cerberus.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
There was a moment of silence before Eric spoke up again.  
“Do they really have 3 heads?”  
“Some of them do. It's fairly rare though.”  
“Cool. Any chance I can see one sometime?”  
The question had Takeshi scratching his head.  
“Honestly, I don't know...”  
“Honorable Lady Lilith keeps a few as guard dogs.”  
The Stable Master offered his knowledge which made Takeshi smile.  
“Thank you Iero, I will have to ask her if it would be possible to allow Eric to meet them.”  
“Cool!”  
Eric was smiling eagerly at the prospect of getting to see more strange creatures  
“Keep in mind though, Lilith is not fond of allowing males into her domain.”  
“Oh, yeah, right. I forgot.”  
“I'm sure Nana won't mind, or she could bring one with her here. You know how she loves to show off.”  
As usual the demons present were slightly unnerved by the casual way Takeshi and the others spoke of Lilith, who they revered as something akin to a goddess, but those currently present were aware that the ancient Avatar had given her permission to be addressed casually by them outside of formal situations.  
  


“So I should start her on minced fish?”  
“Yes, it's easier to eat and digest. Keep in mind to mince the entire fish though, including bones, head and guts.”  
“Is it okay if she tastes things like cooked meat and vegetables when we are eating?”  
“If she shows interest in it she can sample some, but she should be served about a quarter of her weight in raw fish and meat each cycle, divided over 5 meals.”  
“So about 15 percent a day in the human realm?”  
“No, still a quarter while she is growing. Remember, prana is less abundant in the human realm, she will need to compensate what she gains from the environment here by eating more food. Once she is fully grown she will be able to tell you how much food she needs.”  
“Okay. What about treats and such?”  
“I would recommend pieces of dried liver or small fish that has been dried whole.”  
“Anything else?”  
“At least half of her food should be of demon realm origin.”  
“Yeah, I got that. Not enough of that prana stuff in human realm animals.”  
“The only human realm prey with sufficient prana is humans.”  
“Hopefully we won't end up in situations where humans become available on the menu...”  
“And if you do, will you allow her to feed on a human.”  
The Stable Master was clearly curious.  
“I don't know. I guess I would depending on the situation. Like when some really bad people attacked us Take and the others killed them to protect us and allowed Yami, Gere and Freke to eat them.”  
“So you would permit it if it was an enemy?”  
“I guess. Would be a waste not since the body would need to be disposed of anyway.”  
The Stable Master clearly approved of Eric's answer as he nodded with a wide smile before using his wing to pat him on the back.  
“That is good.”  
  


Unfortunately the good mood quickly turned sour when the approach of a large, white mount was spotted, there was only one person who rode a white _Jigorian_, giant winged lion, and that was Maroue.  
“Who is that?”  
“That is Maroue, the arai who sired Em.”  
“Oh.”  
Eric had heard some of the stories about Emelie and Maroue and Takeshi watched with approval as he moved with the others, huddling closer to give Emelie support.  
By the time the large beast landed Emelie was shivering from the effort to control her emotions, despite everyone's best effort the relationship between Emelie and Maroue had not improved, quite the contrary, it had been steadily deteriorating.  
“Ah, perfect I made it in time.”  
Maroue quickly approached, completely ignoring the fact that they were all gathered up and resting.  
“What do you want?”  
Emelie's tone was clipped and cold, but as always Maroue seemed to be completely oblivious to his daughter's feelings and launched into one of his usual lectures.  
“You will speak English or you will not speak at all! Ambassador Eric does not speak Urui.”  
Emelie was immensely grateful when the Royal Guards stepped up and demanded that Maroue speak English, using Lucifer's order that Eric be treated as ambassador to try to defuse the situation a bit, well aware of the bad blood between father and daughter.  
  


For a moment it looked like Maroue would question the order, but then he thought better of it and restarted his lecture, in English.  
As always when dealing with Maroue most of Takeshi's attention was focused on Emelie to help her deal with the instincts and emotions stirred by the behavior of the older demon, and listening to the usual nagging about her social standing and complaints that she hadn't strived to become more than just a huntress he pulled her closer.  
But when Maroue started ranting about how it was time for Emelie to stop playing around and start thinking about the future of the blood and birth offspring to secure alliances for House Govain he found himself struggling every bit as much as she did.  
But before he had a chance to act in defense of his mate a soft thought was transmitted to all of them from Leiia.  
_“I'm sorry...”_  
The next moment Eric bolted from his seat and took up position in front of Emelie.  
“How can say something like that to your own blood?! She's your daughter, not some broodmare for you to trade with!”  
The sharp words instantly had Maroue focused on Eric, but before he had a chance to issue a formal challenge Emelie was at Eric's side.  
“Don't you dare challenge him!”  
“Such is my right!”  
“By royal order House Shamarai Miri has the right to fight any challenge issued against Eric of Miami. And I will be happy to personally fight it!”  
Takeshi was instantly on his feet as well.  
Faced with the prospect of fighting Takeshi in a formal challenge Maroue wisely backed down, but he wasn't entirely done.  
“You have duties to the House Govain!”  
“I rejected your House!”  
“Irrelevant, you have a duty to the House of your blood, an obligation to see to its continued existence, to add members to it to ensure its future!”  
In an instant Emelie's aura became ice cold and her true form surfaced, including her weapon.  
  


“I am Shirai Emelie, Co-alpha of Pack Kiryu, Yema of House Miri, Soulmate of Takeshi Kiryu, Alpha of Pack Kiryu, Yemo of House Shamarai! By my will, witnessed by the Royal Guard of Lord Lucifer, no member of House Shamarai Miri will ever become part of House Govain unless called by the _Simiriwi ai Shaiil_, and even then I will personally fight the challenge to claim the pair for House Shamarai Miri!”  
  


Takeshi could hear the two guards sucking in a sharp breath when Emelie spoke and when she was done they both turned to her and bowed with their wings spread, accepting her call for them to act as witnesses to her declaration.  
Calling as much of his power as he could into his aura Takeshi brought it to bear against Maroue.  
“I am Takeshi Kiryu, Alpha of Pack Kiryu, Yemo of House Shamarai! Before these witnesses I swear I will stand by the decision of my Soulmate, Shirai Emelie, Co-alpha of Pack Kiryu, Yema of House Miri in this matter.”  
  


When Takeshi was done speaking the two guards rose and acknowledged that they had witnessed Emelie's declaration for House Shamarai Miri, and Takeshi's oath that her will be done.  
Takeshi's focus was on Maroue though, there was a very real risk that the older demon would challenge them seriously this time.  
Maroue's aura was bristling with anger and when he took a step toward them Takeshi abandoned his human form and took his draconic battleform and he could feel Dan doing the same at his side, then moments later Ylian and Amanda flared their power as well, showing that Pack Kiryu stood united.  
There was a long moment of silence, then Maroue flared his aura, turned around and walked toward his mount while grumbling about Emelie not being worth the trouble of trying to teach her, but when he said that her magnificent power had been wasted on a human heart the only thing that kept Takeshi from ripping Maroue apart was the searing agony radiating from his beloved Emelie.  
Had it not been for her desperate need for support Takeshi would have attacked Maroue with intent to kill, the urge was powerful, but his need to protect and soothe his soulmate was stronger.  
  


“That... That **thing**, is not worthy of being called a man, much less a father!”  
Eric's sharp words echoed what everyone was feeling and despite Emelie's pain Takeshi was glad the matter had finally been settled once and for all, even if it meant giving up all hope for a reconciliation.  
“Lady Em, would you like us to report what has happened to Lord Lucifer?”  
“Please...”  
“Imora-Yemi would you be willing to use your power to send us to the palace?”  
There would be no way for the guards to get to the palace before Maroue by their own power.  
“Of course.”  
Pulling on the Avatar aspect of their power it only took Ylian a few moments to bring the two guards through the shadows to the palace, and return.  
  


“My sweet little Em, I know it hurts, but please, don't give that fool such power over you.”  
Ylian brushed his fingers against Emelie's face, patiently waiting for her to acknowledge them.  
“Susai...”  
“My precious little Em, blood of my blood.”  
After what had just happened Ylian no longer referred to her as their niece, refusing to acknowledge Maroue as their brother, or her father.  
“Blood of my blood...”  
She echoed back at them with tears in her eyes and when they leaned in and kissed her she returned the kiss for a brief moment before pulling back with a solemn smile.  
“Please, I know you want to denounce the bond of blood in favor for that of heart and pack, but right now I need you to be blood, to be my susai.”  
“Then blood I will be for as long as you need me to be.”  
Ylian wrapped their arms around her crying form, and moments later they felt Dan and Takeshi wrapping themselves around them as well, then pack and house pressed as close as they could.  
  


They didn't move until they were approached by a shadeling wearing the tabard of a Royal Courier.  
“Lord Lucifer requests your presence in the Hall of the Grand Council.”  
“May we have a moment to collect ourselves?”  
Takeshi didn't want to move, but he knew they had to.  
The way Emelie had spoken, requesting the guards to be her witnesses and his own oath to uphold her wish had made it a matter of imperial records, it had to be confirmed before Lucifer and noted into the Hall of Records.  
“Yes, the meeting has been set at the start of the next mark. My Lord asked me to relay his apology for not giving you more time.”  
“Thank you.”  
  


Half a mark later everyone was ready to head out and between Ylian, Emelie and the Royal Courier everyone were brought through the shadows into the waiting area outside the Hall of the Grand Council where the two guards were waiting for them.  
They were greeted by a soft brush of aura relaying a sense of sympathy, and desire to soothe their pain, during their stays at the Obsidian Palace they had grown close to the Royal Guards and most treated them like friends, or even family.  
Like Lucifer the Royal Guards had no family, no House of their own, their only loyalty was to their lord and through him, the land, though with Hugin and Munin the position of Royal Guard was an honorary one, given to them so that they had no duties beyond those assigned to them by Lucifer himself while still retaining a position of authority.  
They didn't have to wait very long before Lucifer's majordomo opened the door and bid them to enter.  
  


“Shirai Emelie, Yema of House Miri, it has come to my attention that you have made a proclamation that needs to be brought to the records.”  
“I have.”  
“Please, state it for the records.”  
“By my will, no member of House Shamarai Miri will ever join House Govain unless called by the _Simiriwi ai Shaiil_, and even if such a calling is heeded I will fight the challenge to claim them for my House.”  
Lucifer nodded and turned to Takeshi.  
“Takeshi Kiryu, Yemo of House Shamarai, do you agree with this?”  
“Yes, I will stand by the will of my Soulmate.”  
“Then so be it. Record Keeper!”  
The Master Scribe nodded and wrote down what had just been said into the official documents that kept track of the interactions of the various demon Houses.  
“Please, have a seat. I want you to be here for the next meeting.”  
Everyone quickly took a seat and waited to see what Lucifer wanted them to stay for.  
  


“Arai Maroue, Yemo of House Govain, enter.”  
Emelie's aura instantly went ice cold and hard edged shields rose around them all as Maroue entered.  
“Arai Maroue, Yemo of House Govain, do you remember the oath you swore before this Council when you returned from the human realm after siring a child by Mari who gave her life for Hope?”  
Maroue didn't answer the question asked by the Council Elder, which in itself was an answer.  
“You swore you would give everything to protect and care for her offspring if she survived.”  
“I did...”  
“You have failed this oath.”  
Again there was no response and the Elder gave Lucifer a quick glance and the old angel sighed, then gave a short nod.  
“Arai Maroue, you are hereby stripped of your House, all its assets are placed under the control of the daughter you failed. You will not approach Shirai Emelie or any member, or ward, of House Shamarai Miri without spoken invitation. If you find yourself coming across them you will leave unless on a task by imperial order that requires you to remain where you are.”  
When Maroue's aura flared and he was about to object Lucifer stood up and unleashed his true power, free from its restraints the weight of his aura forced Maroue to his knees in an instant.  
“Do not speak. This is all I could do to keep you from being cast out altogether. In light of our long history and friendship I asked for leniency on your behalf, reducing your sentence to this, rather than the Mark of the Tharas. Allowing you to keep the titles you have earned yourself, and allowing you to remain here in the Obsidian Halls.”  
When Lucifer's aura pulled back Maroue remained kneeling on the floor.  
“Leave, a guard will bring you to a temporary home, you will stay there until called for.”  
“Yes my Lord.”  
  


Once Maroue had left Lucifer turned to Emelie.  
“I'm sorry Em, but this is how it must be. You need to decide what to about House Govain of the Black Mountain.”  
She took a deep breath before calling on her true form and facing Lucifer and the Council Elder.  
“I have no interest in bringing House Govain into House Miri. I will survey its assets, keep what I want, and what remains I will leave to this Council to give upon an appropriate heir.”  
There was a moment of silence, then the Council Elder spoke.  
“Shirai Emelie, Yema of House Miri, the Grand Council accepts your proposal for dealing with House Govain of the Black Mountain. The House ledger will be brought to you for review and the Master of the Treasury will assign someone to assist you.”  
“Thank you Iero.”  
“For what it is worth, you have the sympathy of the Council, we all wish this would have ended differently.”  
“Thanks...”  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


The following morning a small group of demons waited outside their home within the palace, a scribe, one of the Treasury Master's assistants, the usual pair of Royal Guards and a few Imperial Guards and together they started going through the ledgers that listed all the assets of House Govain.  
Seeing Maroue's mount listed among the assets Emelie turned to the demons helping her.  
“I want to go see the jigorian, it's an intelligent creature so it deserves to have a say about its fate.”  
“As you wish Lady Emelie.”  
Preparations were quickly made and together they headed out to see to the winged lion.  
  


When they arrived at the stable where it was boarded they were greeted by soft calls and when Emelie walked up to it it lowered itself to the ground, placing its head as low as it could.  
“You understand what has happened, don't you?”  
The giant creature voice a few soft _Hnk_ sounds that sounded almost sad.  
“You want to stay with Arai Maroue?”  
The head moved slightly in a nod.  
“Okay, I will allow you to serve him, but you belong to me. Do you understand?”  
There was another soft nod then a low, content rumble.  
“Arai Maroue will be permitted to retain the services of this jigorian, but make sure he understands that this decision is made solely because it is what the White King wishes for and that he is not permitted to sell, trade, breed, or in any way allow another to use it or profit from it without my expressed permission. The exception being that another may make temporary use of it if it is a matter of life and death.”  
In demon culture permitting Maroue to retain the mount that allowed him flight was a very big deal and they could tell some of the Imperial Guards didn't fully agree with her decision and she turned to them and flared her wings slightly.  
“Like I said, I only permit this because of the unwavering loyalty of this beast. I will not allow my personal feelings about Arai Maroue to cause this magnificent creature undue suffering.”  
Turning back around she reached out and scratched the top of the massive maw which earned her a soft purring.  
“If that reasoning is unacceptable to you I suggest you excuse yourself from this assignment.”  
The guards who disagreed with her quickly submitted and assured her that they fully accepted her actions and reasons even if they didn't understand, or agree with her.  
“Good.”  
  


“Take, would you continue checking the ledgers and clear out anything you know I'm not interested in?”  
“Of course sweetie, don't worry.”  
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”  
“Have fun.”  
Emelie just huffed and kissed him before vanishing in his shadow and appearing behind Eric which made him jump slightly and the gentle tap of her tail had Leiia reacting in a similar manner.  
“Aw, did I scare our sweet little kitten?”  
Emelie ignored the startled man and offered the hissing hellcat a soft smile which rewarded her with a chattering sound and Leiia playfully batting her paws at her tail.  
“You need to learn to be in touch with the shadows, they can tell you a lot.”  
Like all of the _Uma_ species the umagai was part shadow and Leiia would need a bit of guidance and training to learn to use her abilities.  
The meow that followed held a distinctly affirmative tone.  
“That's a good girl.”  
Emelie gave her a scratch then grabbed Eric and dragged him over to Dan and snagged him as well.  
“Let's go.”  
Moments later they vanished into the shadows and reappeared at the transit area which for once was empty.  
  


“Angel, is everything ready?”  
Dan was practically bouncing, it was time to take the R35 for a run on a proper road and Dan was feeling slightly nervous.  
“I'm good to go, all systems green and the road is clear.”  
They had transported the car to a location in the Rockies, Dan wasn't entirely sure where it actually was as Angel had picked it herself and airlifted the car there and a crystal cluster had been used to give Emelie something to seek out while in the shadows to bring them there.  
“Then let's burn some rubber.”  
“There is no rubber in the polymer nanocomposite of these tires.”  
The deadpan reply had everyone laughing and moments later Dan tore out from the small parking lot in a spray of dust and debris.  
  


“He's like a kid...”  
Eric shook his head with a smile as they watched the car disappear around a sharp bend in the road.  
“Oh, you're saying you're not looking forward to taking it for a spin?”  
Emelie quipped back with an equally wide smile.  
“Never said that...”  
“Don't worry, I know the feeling. I'm eagerly awaiting my turn as well, but Dan has the most experience with tactical driving as well as Take's driving style so he can teach Angel more about it.”  
  


The modifications done the past week had been focused on pushing the vehicle and allowing Angel to work on the various settings to help improve performance.  
They would all take turns driving the mountain roads, the difference between their driving styles would give Angel plenty of data to work with and would let them test a wide range of settings.  
They hadn't told Takeshi that his car was done as they didn't want him to rush to leave the Obsidian Halls to do the setup drives himself.  
He would no doubt find some way to _punish_ them for it but they had all agreed that it was more important to get him to stay as long as possible to improve his recovery, with his soul fully fused he needed the abundant energy of the realm to rebuild his depleted reserves..  
  


After the incident with Maroue Takeshi had grown increasingly restless, he had instinctively geared up for a fight and when Maroue just walked away it left him with a lot of pent up energy and aggression, and Emelie's silent suffering only fanned those emotions, but Maroue's retreat left him with no outlet for them.  
Frustrated by Takeshi's energies Lucifer had offered him a proper sparring match and a bet that he obviously was very intent on winning, though, no one else had heard what it was.  
The fight that followed was intense with neither holding back beyond making sure not to kill or cause permanent damage, the barriers of the grand arena shook under their power and only the constant effort of several of the arena attendants kept them from shattering.  
In the end the match was ruled a draw as Takeshi's massive effort to overpower the old angel caused his soul to complete the fusion and the resulting burst of power knocked Lucifer out, but also drained Takeshi to the point where he passed out.  
As a result of the fusing Takeshi's energy reserves were critically low and he was currently alternating between eating and resting to try to rebuild his reserves, fortunately they had received a promise from Lilith that she would come visit once she had collected a few of her most powerful demons who were willing to allow Takeshi to feed from them.  
  


“It's amazing! He's gonna love this!”  
When Dan pulled back into the lot his aura was crackling with energy.  
“Oh, that much fun?”  
“We knew it was gonna be one hell of a ride, but damn, this baby is insane!”  
Dan was going of at a mile a minute about how amazing the R35 was to drive in the more challenging road conditions.  
“Go on Eric, take her for a spin.”  
Emelie gave Eric a gentle nudge toward the car.  
“You don't want to go first?”  
“I do, but remember, I'm tiny so we need to swap seats for me to be able to drive aggressively.  
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.”  
Eric blushed slightly and handed a sleeping Leiia to Emelie.  
“Guess I'll go first then.”  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_The Sum of Our Parts_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Take, when you're done eating my auntie we need to talk.”  
Takeshi was currently feeding deeply from the blood of one of the demons that Lilith had brought with her, this particular one was a daughter of hers with some sort of serpent, resulting in a stunningly beautiful, white lamia, half woman, half pure white snake.  
There was a soft hiss telling Emelie that her aunt didn't particularly like being interrupted, but the rattle at the tip of her tail was still, so there was no real temper or threat behind it.  
“Oh don't worry you can finish your fun, just giving him a heads up.”  
As she turned around to let them have some privacy she was stopped by the rattletipped tail gently coiling around her and pulling her closer.  
“Your mate seeks release and my form is not compatible with his. You should stay so that he may find as much pleasure in this as I do.”  
“Oh, you don't need me for that Shimi.”  
Emelie laughed and vanished into the shadows, well aware that using his power would help Takeshi recover faster and aware that he would be able to take a compatible form.  
Th fact that she used Shimi rather than the proper Shoma made Takeshi sigh slightly, she acknowledged the white lamia as a relative, but refused to refer to her as her father's sister.  
  


When Takeshi joined the other about an hour later he was clearly well sated.  
“You needed to talk?”  
“Mhm, your R35 is done.”  
“Ah, perfect, time to head home then.”  
“Not so fast. We are staying here until the red moon market.”  
“That's over 30 cycles from now...”  
“A full week back home. Plenty of time for you to recover, and for Angel to make the preparations needed for you to drive in Japan.”  
“Fine, you win...”  
“Excellent choice.”  
The teasing tone made Takeshi pounce her and nip at her ear before kissing her.


	5. Stalking Crows

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“I want you in my bed tonight.”  
Lucifer was in a somewhat somber mood as Takeshi and the others would be leaving in the morning, and he had been spending most of his time with them, basking in the bond that had been formed.  
“What do you guys say?”  
Takeshi turned to the others, though he already knew what their answer would be.  
“Have fun!”  
“Give him everything you got!”  
“Screw his brains out!”  
“Cuddle him silly!”  
The various suggestions for what they thought Takeshi should do with Lucifer had both males smiling teasing smiles.  
“I guess I have to give it my best then.”  
Two auras quickly flared and there was a bit of a scuffle as both of them tried to gain dominance and be the one to bring the other to their private room and after a moment they could feel the palace answering and transporting the pair to Lucifer's room.  
  


“My my, you are being forceful tonight.”  
Lucifer hummed teasingly when Takeshi's claws dug in as he pulled at the soft tunic that Lucifer wore under his armor.  
“You are pulling on the bond.”  
“I know, I'm sorry. I'm not used to having a bond like this with anyone. And knowing that you are leaving has me somewhat unsettled.”  
“The bonds will hold.”  
Lucifer knew the bond was strong, the sheer power of the individuals involved in it would make sure that it would hold even across the realms but he also understood that it would probably be very uncomfortable at first.  
“I know, and the pain will fade.”  
“Indeed...”  
“It's still triggering all kinds of instincts...”  
“Mhm...”  
Takeshi's slightly teasing tone earned him a somewhat annoyed trill that he silenced with a harsh kiss.  
Lucifer's assistance with Takeshi's treatment had allowed the pair to find a good balance between dominance and submission, a balance that allowed them to let loose and enjoy themselves fully during sex without worrying about pushing the other too far.  
  


Takeshi was feeling a deep need to be closer to Lucifer, to claim and mark, a need to feel, and as a result he was quite a bit rougher than usual.  
_“__♫”_  
The soft chirp spoke of pain and made Takeshi freeze.  
“I'm sorry.”  
“It's okay, it was just a bit more pain than I prefer.”  
“I'm sorry...”  
“Don't be, I need this far more. I need to feel you.”  
Lucifer's words were forgiveness, request and promise all in one and they made Takeshi unleash his aura with a soft nod.  
What followed was intense and rough, all emotion and very little control and left them both with cuts and bruises that quickly vanished as they collapsed in the soft bedding, totally spent both physically and mentally.  
Lucifer's soft warbles spoke of satisfaction and Takeshi hummed his agreement as he allowed himself to be pulled into the strong arms, enjoying being held by the larger male.  
  


“Uncle Lucy, we have something for you.”  
Everyone had gathered at the transit point and Lucifer was there to see them off.  
“Oh?”  
He quickly stepped over to Emelie who held out a small box for him and opening revealed a deceptively simple ball chain necklace and a dragon shaped charm that curled around the chain.  
“It's beautiful.”  
Rather than the usual metal ball links it had alternating links of crystal and tama-silver and each of those he now had a bond with had charged one of the crystals with their energy, one even carried Eric's energy and the larger dragon carried Takeshi's energy.  
The design allowed it to be worn in a wide range of ways and Lucifer quickly placed it around his neck in a very prominent way.  
“Thank you, all of you.”  
Making up his mind Lucifer pulled a feather from his wing and called on his own special brand of magic, making the feather twist and change until he held a small pile of simple feather charms with tama-silver fitting.  
“Come, I want all of you to have one.”  
When Eric took a small step back Lucifer instantly zeroed in on him.  
“Yes, you too. You belong to House Shamarai Miri.”  
With Lucifer's confirmation Eric was quickly ushered forward to receive the first charm.  
  


“How do I wear this?”  
Eric turned the simple charm over in his hands, not seeing any way to wear it.  
“The fitting will change to fit your needs.”  
Lucifer quickly showed how it could be attached to a chain or charm bracelet, then allowed it to morph into a hook earring with a small locking mechanism.  
“I think this would fit you nicely.”  
Eric just nodded and allowed him to replace the simple crystal stud that he had been wearing since Takeshi made the piercings.  
Only the helix piercing had been replaced with a more elaborate item, and Lucifer now placed the feather on the opposite side to create balance.  
“It feels a bit odd.”  
“Well, it has a bit of my energy in it.”  
“No, not like that. I'm used to feeling your energy now, it feels calm and safe.”  
Eric quickly assured he wasn't bothered by Lucifer's energy.  
“It's just the dangling that feels strange.”  
Eric shook his head slightly, making the feather charm swing with the motion.  
“It suits you really well.”  
“I'm going to have to be able to put it on a necklace when I wear a helmet though.”  
“Of course, just touch it and think of what you need.”  
Lucifer quickly showed him to change the fitting.  
“Oh, that was easy.”  
  


“He's right. It looks good on you.”  
Dan hooked a finger under Eric's chin and studied his face and the way the feather charm balanced the earring in the helix piercing, the fairly large piece following the shape of the cartilage.  
The kiss that followed earned them the usual hoots and whistles and once Dan broke away Eric turned bright red when Lucifer ducked in and gave him a quick peck.  
Before anyone had a chance to do anything more Lucifer had hooked one of the charms to the thin gold chain that hung low on Dan's chest and moved on to the girls.  
  


“Ah little Anne, all sweet and spicy, I very much enjoyed our times together.”  
Anne instantly went bright red and slapped him on the chest, which of course was completely pointless as he was wearing his usual armor.  
“Aw, you didn't enjoy yourself?”  
“You know I did, you made damn sure of that...”  
She huffed and complained, but she was more than happy to accept when he leaned in to kiss her.  
Carol and Amy received similar treatments before Lucifer moved on to teasing Amber, offering to be her Guide when she felt ready and Takeshi had a feeling she might just accept that offer, at least in part, inviting the old angel to be part of her Arashiri.  
Turning away from the blushing young woman Lucifer continued to hand out the small feather charms, along with various teasing quips and touches.  
  


Saving Takeshi for last Lucifer took his sweet time to hand out the charms, adding some personal touch to each of them.  
Turning to Takeshi he gently reached out for the agitated raven on his shoulder with earned him a sharp peck before Hugin fled to Dan's shoulder instead, the young angel had not handled being kissed deeply by his lord very well.  
The moment Hugin was clear Takeshi's aura began to rise in mock challenge, instantly bringing the attention of every demon in the transit station to them as they stared each other down.  
Neither of them moved for quite some time then as suddenly as it had started the auras settled down and their stances relaxed.  
To a casual observer it might have looked like Takeshi submitted as he tilted his head to the side so that Lucifer could nip at his neck, but in reality it was more or less the opposite, Lucifer had accepted that Takeshi didn't submit.  
Baring his neck to Lucifer was Takeshi's way of showing he trusted him, and it was also a bit of a show for the audience as it could undermine Lucifer's position as lord if those unaware of his relationship with Takeshi saw him submit, or even accept being challenged.  
  


“_I love you.”_  
Lucifer's soft whisper was too low even for demon ears to overhear but Takeshi could hear him loud and clear and with a smile he brushed his lips against the underside of Lucifer's jaw which rewarded him with a hungry kiss.  
“You will be missed.”  
Takeshi hummed with a smile once they broke the kiss.  
“As will you. All of you.”  
Lucifer turned to the others and brushed his aura against them.  
“We will miss you too Uncle Lucy.”  
There was a sharp surge of shock through the auras of the demons awaiting transit but it quickly settled down when neither the Royal Guards nor the two Blood Guards reacted to the familial address.  
“We will try to visit every week, eh... Every cycle of the red moon.”  
The cycles of the small red moon of the Obsidian Halls matched the passage of a week in the human realm.  
“I will be looking forward to your visits.”  
There was a quick round of last goodbyes before they stepped through the mist.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Welcome back everyone.”  
“Thanks Angel!”  
“How has things been here?”  
“Nothing special to report.”  
“And anything not special?”  
“I did manage to find a few more restaurants willing to allow me to order food. I have been unable to ascertain the quality of the food though, beyond it being safe for consumption.”  
“Well, go ahead and order us something and we will try it out.”  
“Okay.”  
“I'll drop Eric and Leiia of at his place while you guys order food.”  
Dan quickly activated the runes as that brought in the large container of meat that was intended to keep Leiia fed for about a week, then several crates of toys and other useful items.  
“Is this stuff safe for me to eat too?”  
“Yeah, and there's plenty enough for both of you.”  
“Perfect, you guys have seriously spoiled me when it comes to meat quality.”  
“Mhm, getting to eat the good stuff kinda does that to ya.”  
“Well, I guess I'll see you guys later. And thanks for showing me this...”  
“See ya.”  
“Take care.”  
“You be a nice girl now Leiia.”  
The happy yowl didn't sound all that promising, quite the contrary it sounded downright mischievous.  
  


“Oh, good luck with that...”  
Amanda's teasing tone had Eric huffing in amused concern.  
“Mhm... Hopefully plenty of toys and scratching posts will get me and my furniture through this in one piece...”  
“Well, you can always give her a bit of that demonic catnip, it should calm her down if she becomes too much.”  
Emelie reminded him that they had picked up several demon herbs that acted like catnip, one of them having a very calming effect.  
“I know, but I rather not.”  
“Don't worry, it's perfectly safe.”  
“Yeah, but it doesn't feel right...”  
“I understand, but don't take any unnecessary risks, if her instincts gets the better of her while she is over excited she could hurt you pretty bad without meaning to.”  
“I won't I promise.”  
“Good.”  
They quickly loaded the crates into the van that had been purchased while they were shopping for their new home and watched Dan and Eric drive off.  
  


“Thanks for helping me get all this stuff...”  
“Don't worry, we promised we would help you take care of Leiia didn't we?”  
“Yeah, but still... She's got more stuff than I do...”  
“Guess I need to buy you more stuff then.”  
“I need to still fit in the apartment...”  
“I could always buy you a nice house.”  
Dan's suggestion had Eric huffing and sighing at him.  
“Or you could move in with us...”  
“You're serious, aren't you?”  
“Jepp.”  
“I... I don't know if I'm ready for that step just yet.”  
“Well, we're all ready for you if you decide you're ready to join us.”  
“I know...”  
Dan stepped closer to Eric, gently pinning him against the wall before kissing him deeply.  
“Don't forget to say something if we become too much. The last thing we want to do it make you uncomfortable or cross any lines.”  
“I know...”  
“Good.”  
“Will you call me before you and Take leave for Japan?”  
“Of course, we want you to be a part of making the plans for how we will handle this.”  
“And don't worry Eric, I will leave one of my drones here so you can talk to Dan without having to worry about call fee's.”  
“Thanks Angel.”  
“You should rest for a bit, we'll give you a call in a couple of hours, okay?”  
“Worrywart.”  
“Okay?”  
“Fine, I'll get some rest and wait for your call.”  
“Perfect.”  
“Ass...”  
Eric grumbled slightly at Dan's teasing tone.  
“Love you too.”  
“You're channeling Take again...”  
“Maybe I do...”  
Dan hummed softly.  
“Does it bother you?”  
“Nah, he's a good guy, charming, caring, and it fits you pretty good.”  
Dan released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, relieved that Eric didn't mind the occasional quirk.  
“Unless you're gonna stay here in bed with me I suggest you get going.”  
“Mmm, that sounds so tempting, but I really do need to get back home.”  
It ended up taking a good half hour before Dan finally made it out the door and into the van to head home.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Angel, is Eric awake?”  
Dan placed the last takeout box into the garbage chute while checking with Angel to see if Eric was awake as he didn't want to wake him up.  
“He is, Leiia was quite insistent on wanting her bottle.”  
Leiia was old enough to eat solid food and she loved her assortment of meat and bones, but she still begged for the bottle as a social thing, wanting to be fed and cuddled when she woke up after one of her longer naps, and in the evening before Eric went to bed.  
“Okay, would you let him know we are about to start our little planning meeting please?”  
“Of course.”  
  


Once everyone was seated one of Angel's projections changed to show Eric with Leiia in his lap.  
“Hi Eric.”  
“Hello Leiia.”  
The way Leiia was looking around had them all smiling as she was clearly very confused by hearing them, but not seeing or feeling them.  
“Hi guys.”  
The image of Eric scooped the exploring cub back up and put her back in his lap.  
“Why did you guys want me here?”  
“Most of this planning will be about me and Dan in Japan, and you are Dan's simoro so this very much involves you.”  
“Oh.”  
“Since tōge racing is very much a night activity we will have plenty of spare time during the day, which mean evening and night here.”  
“Japan is UTC plus 9, right?”  
“That's right, and Miami is minus 4, for a total time difference of 13 hours. 7am Monday in Japan is 6pm Sunday here in Miami.”  
“So if you guys travel the way we did we can spend the evenings together?”  
“Most of them at least, we will do some daytime runs to learn the various tōge will will be driving.”  
“Sounds awesome.”  
“Also, remember we promised we would try to visit the Obsidian Halls to see Lucifer once a week, and I was wondering if you would like to join us.”  
“I'd love to.”  
“How about we set Saturday's aside for that? Then you have time to settle back to normal a bit when we get back.”  
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”  
  


They continued to talk about the plans for how to handle racing in Japan, Takeshi needed to build a bit of a reputation to be allowed to race someone like Hiroto, who was considered a champion.  
This needed to be done without actually running into him as Takeshi wanted to challenge him at his favorite pass, the Mazda Turnpike at Hakone.  
Once they had the basic plans down everyone could tell that there was something more Eric wanted to say.  
“Come on, just spit it out.”  
“I...”  
“Come on love.”  
“Could you bring back some of those bento boxes for me?”  
“Of course, any special kind you would like?”  
Takeshi quickly took over as he had a fair knowledge of the wide range of regional and specialty bento boxes available.  
“Well, I don't know what they are called, but it's clay pot with food in it.”  
“I think you mean _Tōge no_ _Kamameshi_ from Gunma. Angel, could you show him one of those please?”  
“Of course.”  
A moment later Eric's face broke into a wide smile.  
“Yeah, that's the one!”  
“Well, we will definitely be visiting Gunma as it has a really nice tōge scene, any racer worth his salt makes sure to run there. So we will make sure to bring one for you.”  
“How about we just being him a few regional boxes from every place we go?”  
Dan offered his own suggestion, part of his instincts wanting to spoil the man he considered a mate to be.  
“What do you think about that Eric?”  
The brilliant smile was answer enough, but after a few moments he did manage to mumble out that he would love it if they did that.  
“It's settled then.”  
  


“You're planning something crazy, aren't you?”  
Eric had long since said goodnight and Takeshi and the others had drifted away to their own pastimes, Dan had joined Takeshi in the room that had been turned into a workshop for Angel, watching her and the twins work on their bookbinding skills, now testing the methods on demon realm materials.  
Dan's question only made Takeshi smirk, but when he received a sharp slap on the arm he relented and answered Dan's question properly.  
“I do have a few special items in mind, for instance there is this really nice box you can only get in Nikko that has some amazing _Masuzushi_.”  
“Refresh my memory please...”  
“Masuzushi, is a_ Oshizushi_, pressed sushi, made with lake trout.”  
“I'm guessing that's not the only thing that makes is special?”  
“Indeed, there's also some high quality shellfish, and beluga caviar.”  
“Damn...”  
“Also, it comes with a side of desserts, and both items come in a hand carved lacquer boxes.”  
“Sounds expensive...”  
“It is. But it's not the most expensive item I plan for us to buy for him.”  
“Oh?”  
“There's this specialty box that showcases the highest quality wagyu in the world, a rather impressive 4.5 kilos if it.”  
“That sounds like something Leiia would love to share with him.”  
“Indeed. There's also a few really nice seafood ones, like _Tarabagani_, _Fugu_, and seasonal items such as _Sakura Ebi_ and _Hotaru-Ika._”  
“Let's see, sakura ebi were those tiny shrimp, right?”  
“Mhm...”  
“Tarabagani was red king crab, and fugu is pufferfish... Can't remember what hotaru ika was though.”  
“Hotaru-Ika is is firefly squid.”  
“I don't remember having that.”  
“I don't think you have actually, we will have to rectify that oversight. They are not in season now though.”  
“Oh, I can wait. I bet you'll make it worth every second.”  
“Of course I will.”  
The kiss that followed had the twins whistling softly at them and they could both smell the slight hint of arousal from them, they were growing quite curious but they weren't ready to go as far as actually exploring their sexuality just yet.  
  


“You know, I didn't think you could get fugu in a bento box.”  
Dan continued their previous conversation once Takeshi allowed the freedom to speak again.  
“Normally you can't, but with sufficient funds, and knowing just how to ask for it you can get a fugu chef to prepare it to go. We will have to make a nice bento box for him though. Fugu sashimi is traditionally cut so thin that it becomes transparent, then plated in a chrysanthemum pattern on a plate with a distinct pattern that can be seen through the slices.”  
“So a round, stackable boxes with a distinct bottom pattern?”  
“Mhm, and a few of the trays should be shallow for thin cut sashimi such as fugu.”  
“And we definitely want to be able to put it in stasis and regulate temperature, so Sanctuary crystal stuff?”  
“Mhm.”  
“I want to at least try making it myself...”  
“Of course you do.”  
“Girls, do you want to help Dan design a really nice bento box for Eric?”  
“Maybe we should make a square or rectangular one as well?”  
“That we should.”  
The twins instantly broke down laughing.  
“Now what is so amusing?”  
“Uncle Danny sounds like you, and you sound like Uncle Lucy...”  
The pair looked at the twins, then at each other, then back at the twins before breaking down in laughter too.  
“Come on Dan, let's make some nice bento box designs!”  
“Okay okay, I'm coming.”  
“Angel would you project a basic round bento box for us please?”  
“How large would you like it to be?”  
“Uhm... No clue... Take?”  
  


“We should make one larger, 25 centimeter diameter should be suitable, make it 6 tiers, one 8 centimeter for things like rice, one 6 centimeter, two 4 centimeter and two 2 centimeters. Now make a 3.5 centimeter diameter outtake at the edge and make inserts that can be fitted into it.”  
Takeshi's suggested measurements were instantly projected for Dan and the twins.  
“What kind of inserts?”  
“One full height, one half height and selection of 3, 4 and 5 centimeter ones for various liquids such as soups, dips and sauces.”  
“Okay.”  
The suggested design quickly took form  
“Make a second one, but scale it down to 10 centimeters diameter and 3 tiers, 6, 4 and 3 centimeters.”  
The smaller design, intended to serve one person and be easy to carry, appeared next to the larger one.  
“There you go.”  
“Thanks Take.”  
Takeshi just gave Dan a slightly shooing gesture before leaning back to watch the trio tossing ideas back and forth, some serious, some rather outrageous, and he quickly settled down into a deeply relaxed state that projected calm contentment.  
  


“I think we should make the décor based on Danny's true form, and Rai.”  
“Yeah, like those nice lacquer boxes with mother of pearl inlays.”  
Takeshi wasn't the least bit surprised when the suggested designs took a turn down the road to insanely fancy, he had probably spoiled his girls quite a bit when it came to the design of most items around their home, both in Hawaii and now in Miami.  
“Dan, is it okay if we give him a nice set of lacquer bowls for his birthday?”  
“Of course, I think he'd like that. Maybe the other girls can add things like tea, spices, sake and tea sets, maybe chopsticks as well.”  
Dan agreed with Maria's idea.  
“He likes cooking so some good knives.”  
Takeshi added his own suggestion and received some agreeing nods.  
“Maybe things like bonsai trees and wall scrolls too.”  
Sarah as usual was more into aesthetics than practicality.  
“I'm sure he'd love all those things, he's not a hard man to please. I'm sure he'll love anything you give him.”  
  


The conversation quickly splintered down a wide range of topics including suitable gifts for Eric, and Dan's relationship with him.  
Takeshi however opted to hang back and let them work, and speak, in peace, he would have plenty of time to talk to Dan about it over the coming weeks.  
  


(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“Come on, we need to get to Tokyo to oversee the loading of the R35 onto the auto-rig.”  
“Easy Dan, I'm coming.”  
“They are going to be seriously ticked off if were not there in 5 minutes.”  
Takeshi just huffed and grabbed Dan by the scruff of his neck and opened the doorway into the shadowrealm and tossed the younger man into it and waved goodbye to the others before entering himself, he knew Dan would be at the exit waiting for him.  
“Asshole...”  
Dan was grumbling and complaining when Takeshi joined him, but the moment the crew at the airport arrived with the container with the R35 he was at his best behavior.  
  


“_Sugoi..!”_  
Takeshi found himself needing to pick up his jaw as the side of the shipping container opened up and revealed the R35, it was the first time he actually saw it after shipping it to Hawaii and it was beyond his imagination.  
“Oh, like what you see?”  
The fact that Takeshi had reverted to Japanese for the rather subconscious expressing of awe was plenty enough to tell Dan how he felt about the R35  
_“Kakkoii!”_  
“Glad you like it, we spent quite some time deciding which design to go with.”  
“You guys did an amazing job. It looks awesome!”  
“She handles even better than she looks.”  
“Now you're just teasing me...”  
“Nuh uh, she handles like a dream.”  
Takeshi just stared at Dan for a moment, seeking the truth of his words in his eyes, and when he found teasing amusement, but also absolute honesty there he grabbed him and kissed him, ignoring the somewhat uncomfortable reaction of the workers at the public display of affection.  
He did offer them a slightly apologetic nod once he was done kissing Dan breathless though.  
“Thank you.”  
He thanked the ground crew for loading the R35 into the auto-rig, one of the fully autonomous trucks that were commonly used for road transports in Japan.  
Over the past 20 years almost all road transports, including buses had been replaced with fully autonomous vehicles controlled by specialized AI's, this particular one had been refitted for Angel though, and one of the trailers could unfold into a well equipped workshop.

They both climbed into the cabin that had been modified into a small, but comfortable, sitting room.  
“This is actually really comfortable. Nice choice Angel.”  
“Thank you Dan. Even with the schedule we made you and Take will be spending quite a bit of time here so I wanted to make sure you are comfortable. Also, during the security upgrade I had one of the Mandrake techs replace the windscreen, and install projectors.”  
As she spoke an information HUD flickered to life on the large, wrap around, windscreen and her usual galaxy projection came to life between them.  
“That's good thinking, but how about you let me see my lovely little girl while we're talking?”  
“Okay Daddy.”  
Angel's tone was slightly teasing as the projection shifted into a young version of her black winged angel avatar.  
  


“So, sweetie, care to share the itinerary you made for us?”  
“Of course.”  
A detailed map of Japan came to life on the windscreen and all the major tōge locations were highlighted.  
“Since Eric wants that _Tōge no_ _Kamameshi _I figured we might as well start with the Gunma Prefecture.”  
The map highlighted Gunma, then the rest of the map fell away and Gunma was expanded to cover the display.  
“When done in Gunma we would continue north toward Tochigi, and Nikko. Naturally I will make sure to place a timely order for a few of the Nikko Maizoukin bento boxes. I have already reserved and paid for the luxury lacquer box version for Eric, but I figured the girls might want to try one as well, and even the regular ones are limited to 20 a day.”  
“So head up north, then return back south along the west coast, head out toward Hiroshima, then circle back through Osaka and Nagoya, then down to Hamamatsu and finally up through Shizuoka before finishing in Hakone?”  
“Did you peek at my files without me knowing?”  
Angel sounded decidedly upset when Takeshi accurately deducted the main points of the itinerary she had made for them.

“Of course not sweetie. I just made some educated guesses based on the fact you tend to go for logical and efficient.”  
Angel's projection was still leveling a somewhat suspicious glare at him.  
“Sweetie, I would **never** use the privacy protocols without letting you know unless I had a **very** good reason.”  
Takeshi was clearly slightly upset as well at the thought of Angel believing he would abuse the codes that allowed him to access her data without her being aware.  
“....”  
When Angel didn't respond Takeshi's mood quickly turned solemn.  
“I could never abuse my power over you like that, no more than I could abuse Hugin's soulname or my ability to force my will on the others.”  
Dan struggled not to respond to Takeshi's pain, to allow Angel time to pick up on it and understand, respond, to it herself.  
It only took a few moments before Angel's sensors picked up on the changes in Takeshi's vitals, and reaching out for his face she focused her sensors and picked up on the slight sheen of tears forming.  
“I'm sorry...”  
Her demeanor changed instantly as she realized how her actions and words could be interpreted, and unable to truly touch Takeshi she turned to Dan with a pleading look, begging him to do what she couldn't, and Dan just nodded and gave Takeshi a tight hug.

“We have arrived.”  
Dan and Takeshi were playing cards when Angel announced they had arrived.  
“Already?”  
Dan was surprised that they were already at their destination.  
“It is less than 130 kilometers between Tokyo and Shibukawa.”  
“Oh...  
“May I suggest you take the R35 and have a look at the course then head to Yokokawa and try the Tōge no Kamameshi?”  
“That sounds like a plan. Let's head for the peak.”  
“I have made arrangements to park at Lake Haruna for two full weeks if needed, that should give us time to practice a bit and face the local racers. The North Eastern pass is particularly popular.”  
“Excellent.”

Once they had parked they unloaded the R35 and took off to the tollbooth that Angel indicated on the map which was where the races started from.  
“Let's do a few slow drives up and down first. I need to get used to driving on the left side of the road again.”  
“Okay.”  
“Angel, are the satellites and drones in position?”  
“Of course.”  
“Good, give me a detailed traffic analysis please.”  
Takeshi intended to drive as hard as the traffic situation allowed.  
“Right away.”  
Takeshi studied the data for a moment before pulling back out on the road and hitting the accelerator.  
  


The moment they took of Angel began playing some rather energetic music.  
“Angel, are you seriously playing the Phantom Skyline soundtrack?”  
Dan recognized the music from the old anime the girls had made him watch as it showcased tōge racing.  
“Well, it is appropriate.”  
Takeshi quipped with a laugh.  
“Really?”  
“Well, this **is** the _Akina downhill_ , and the R35 GT-R **is** closely related to the R32 GT-R Skyline. And she's black.”  
“But, this Mount Haruna..?”  
Dan's obvious confusion made Takeshi snort in amusement.  
“Mhm, but it was called Akina in Initial D.”  
“Oh, okay... I had no idea...”  
“Traffic is clear, you can pace up if you want to.”  
Angel's traffic report for the upcoming section interrupted their talk and Takeshi responded by pushing down on the accelerator.

They weren't really driving all that fast as Takeshi wanted to learn about the stretch of road that they would be racing on first, but Angel's insistence of playing the high pace eurobeat music did put them in quite a mood so when they took a break to head out to pick up the somewhat legendary train station bento they drove quite a bit faster than the speed limit.  
“Take, there is a police check up ahead.”  
“Don't worry, he's driving a regular car, he won't bother trying to catch us. They never do unless it's one of the special street racing enforcement task force vehicles. This one will just snap a picture of our license plate, run it to locate the owner and send a nice big ticket for speeding.”  
“Running our plates will just return a diplomatic flag though.”  
Angel pointed out that they were making use of the treaties that gave them diplomatic immunity.  
“Indeed, they can still send a ticket, but they won't try to enforce it if we don't pay.”  
“Okay.”  
  


A few minutes later an official looking document appeared on the HUD display.  
“They are quite effective, the ticket has already been registered in my system. How should I respond?”  
“Just pay it, we **are** speeding after all.”  
“Should I respond the same way to any future tickets?”  
“Yeah, if the ticket is valid and we did what they are fining us for just pay it. And donate the same amount to a suitable police project.”  
“As you wish. How does this project look?”  
Angel displayed a project aimed at young street racers, giving them an opportunity to drive at real tracks instead of out on the streets, and by extension, a shot at becoming professional drivers.  
“Looks good.”  
“Yeah, very suitable.”  
Takeshi and Dan both agreed with her pick, though not without a teasing edge.

“Dan, did you guys add stasis generators to the trunk?”  
They were standing at the small _Ekiben_ store that sold the Tōge no Kamameshi that they were after and Takeshi was trying to decide how many to get.  
“Of course.”  
“Excellent. We will get one for everyone then.”  
The vendor made quite an amusing face when he heard how many they wanted, their little family was currently 21 heads strong, 22 if they counted Eric so Takeshi opted to buy 30 pots so that familiars, beasts and animals could have some as well.  
When they arrived back at the car and Angel opened the trunk for Takeshi he hummed in appreciation.  
“You even added a teleportation circle.”  
Takeshi was very pleased to find the added feature in the bottom of the trunk.  
“Of course. There's not much cargo space in this baby so we did the same in the modified engine compartment as well. And we have made special weight blocks that can be brought in if needed to add weight.”  
“That's good thinking.”  
He quickly went around and lifted the hood as well and found that the engine compartment was mostly empty as well and there was the same lining and teleportation circle as in the trunk.

“This is really nice. More space than I thought it would be..”  
“The modified electric motor took up very little space, and since we use a Sanctuary crystal generator there's no need for batteries. Most of the generator as well as Angel's computer core is actually part of the frame now.”  
“So you got rid of almost everything that would generate extra weight?”  
“Mhm, and in return you can add extra weight both at the front and the back if needed.”  
“That's downright brilliant.”  
Dan instantly blushed and spluttered a bit.  
“Oh, it was your idea?”  
When Dan just blushed instead of answering Angel stepped up and answered in his stead.  
“Indeed it was, he made several very useful suggestions for the design.”  
“I see. Angel, would you make a note for me to get my dear Danny a nice reward for that.”  
“Of course.”  
“Uhm, Take..?”  
“Yes love?”  
“If you really want to give me something special, could you look into getting me a car like this as well?”  
“Of course, do want me to locate an actual R35? Or are you okay if we just build a copy of this one from scratch?”  
“Oh, I didn't even think of that. Yeah, of course it's okay with a copy.”  
“Then it's settled. Angel, would you contact Mandrake and have them make preparations please? And let Em know about it as well.”  
“Of course.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


Once they had eaten their lunch they headed back toward the north eastern slope of Mount Haruna to continue practicing the route, taking turns driving up and down the serpentine road.  
Once they returned from having dinner in Shibukawa they found that a few local drivers had arrived to practice their driving as well which offered the opportunity to watch and learn from drivers who were familiar with the road.  
Their arrival at the small parking lot by the toll booth caused quite a bit of attention and the local drivers were very curious about the unfamiliar car and its drivers.  
“She's a real R35?”  
“The frame is, but pretty much everything has been replaced to accommodate the electric motor.”  
“Is she fast?”  
“Very.”  
There were a lot of questions about the car, both in Japanese and English as several of the young drivers took the opportunity to practice their English, and Takeshi humored most of them.  
“You are here to race, correct?”  
“That's the plan, but I want to get to know the course a bit better first. Any of you care to show us how you drive it?”  
“Hai! Me.”  
A fairly young looking girl next to an old silver gray Miata waved at them with a smile.  
“You are in luck, Aya-chan knows this course better than anyone. She's not the fastest, but she is the most accurate, no one knows the lines better.”  
Several of the other drivers quickly praised the skill and accuracy of the young driver.  
“Please, lead the way Aya-senpai.”  
Aya blushed slightly at the honorific, referring to her as a senior was appropriate though as she was the more experienced driver on the course.

“You just can't help flirting, can you?”  
Dan teased lightly once they were in the car and ready to go.  
“Well, she's cute.”  
“Dog...”  
“Sticks and stones.”  
“If you guys are done sniping, we are about to begin.”  
Angel huffed at them.  
“Yeah, were good to go, set performance restrictions to setting 3 please.”  
“Acknowledged.”  
Takeshi and Dan had made a few setups that restricted the performance of the R35, setting 3 restricted it to the performance you could get with readily available electric motors and aftermarket parts, Aya's Miata would still not stand a chance if Takeshi actually pushed it though.  
It was a small car that was well suited for the tōge style driving, but it was old and lacked in power and overall performance compared to newer cars.  
  


“She is very skilled.”  
Angel was recording Aya's driving as they drove back and forth along the road several times.  
“Mhm, the variation in her lines is almost non existent. And she is pushing her car to the limit of its capacity.”  
Dan was examining the data on Aya's driving.  
”Racing her under more equal conditions could be interesting.”  
Takeshi found that he would very much like to race her properly.  
“Maybe we should sponsor her with a competitive car?”  
Angel's suggestion had both of them humming.  
“It's a possibility, assuming she willing to. Many of these drivers are highly loyal to their chosen cars and don't really care about winning, only about becoming the best they can with what they have.”  
“Okay.”  
  


After running down and back up three times they stopped at the top for a break.  
“Thank you Aya-senpai, seeing your runs has been very informative.”  
“Ah.. It's my pleasure...?”  
“You can call me Ryu.”  
Takeshi tapped the dragon motif on the hood of the car.  
“Okay Ryu-san.”  
Aya turned to Dan who introduced himself as Rai, neither of them did anything to hide the fact that those were assumed names but no one seemed to care, it was probably pretty common for racers to use various nicknames.  
“Rai-san, do you drive as well?”  
“I do, but I'm not as good as Mr Insanity here.”  
Takeshi and Dan had already decided to stick with a friendly, but teasing, interaction between them.  
  


As it became dark and normal traffic settled down to nearly non existent the more serious racers began arriving, no doubt having heard the rumors about a new challenger in the area.  
Takeshi was more than happy to drive against the older drivers with more powerful cars and try to figure out who was the fastest in the area.  
“There's a lot of good drivers here, but who would you say is the fastest?”  
After a few hours of driving Takeshi decided he was familiar enough with the drivers to ask them their opinion.  
“ _Akai Suisei_ . Red Comet, is fastest on Haruna and Akagi.”  
The older man driving a black Lancer Evolution that was one of the faster that Takeshi had run with gave his opinion in heavily accented English, and everyone quickly agreed that the driver called Red Comet was the fastest.  
”I guess he is my target then. Anyone know when he will be racing, or how to reach him to issue a challenge?”  
The target comment caused a few smiles and snickers, and as far as Takeshi could tell no one took insult to his somewhat cocky words.  
“Akai Suisei only races on Friday and Saturday. And only after dark.”  
“So I have a week to get to know Haruna a bit better before there's a chance for me to run in to him.”  
“That you do.”  
“Excellent. By the way, does anyone have his record times for Haruna and Akagi?”  
He was quickly given a pair of times, and soon the record times for the other two major Gunma tōge locations, Myōgi and Usui was given as well, giving Takeshi a good baseline to work against.

Takeshi made sure to race as many of the local drivers as possible, though not all of the races were very serious, many of them readily admitted they stood no chance against him, but he insisted on wanting to race them anyway, telling them that there was always something to learn from another driver.  
By 2am the local drivers had all headed home and Takeshi focused on pushing his limit while he had the road to himself.  
When traffic picked up again the following morning they returned to the lake at the summit and put the car back in the truck before retiring to the modified cockpit, and from there returned home to Miami.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


They had barely arrived when they were pounced by a very happy Leiia who set out to try to lick the skin of their faces.  
“Easy Leiia, remember you can hurt people if you lick them like that.”  
Dan's scolding instantly made the energetic cub stop and voice a soft, whining, sound.  
“It's okay, I'm not hurt. But you need to be careful.”  
“She's just as happy to see you as I am.”  
Eric teased softly and was rewarded with a very emotional kiss.  
“Ready to try your ekiben?”  
“My what?”  
“An ekiben is a train station bento.”  
Takeshi piped up from the bottom of the usual dogpile.  
“Oh, you picked one up already?”  
“Mhm, Take went a bit crazy though so we got more than one.”  
Dan resumed without missing a beat.  
“Let me guess, enough for all of us?”  
“Of course.”  
“Yay!”  
“Bento!”  
“What kind?”  
“Based on Dan's smile I'm assuming it's that clay pot one that Eric wanted.”  
Nelly snickered before giving Takeshi a proper kiss and pulling back to let the others get at him.  
  


“That's a lot of bento...”  
When they brought in the bento through the teleportation circle Emelie gave Takeshi her usual _You're insane!_ look while the girls just grabbed one each.  
“I bought enough for Kara, Yami and the others too. There's one for Leiia there too, but I'm not sure if she will go for it. The flavors and scents are quite different from what she's used to.”  
Takeshi smiled and opened one of the extra bentos and gave it to Yami.  
“Be careful, don't break the pot.”  
Yami instantly calmed down and began very carefully licking the content out of the pot.  
“Come here Kara, I have one for you too.”  
He placed a pot on the table for the blessed crow.  
“Thanks Take. Kara missed ekiben.”  
“That's right, as a crow in Japan you probably ate a lot of them didn't you?”  
“Kara did. Most of Kara's food was ekiben that humans threw away. Kara's mother showed Kara the best places to find them.”  
Takeshi found the fact that Kara showed very little emotional response to mentioning her origins and biological mother somewhat interesting as she was highly emotional about everything after they found her, even before her change.  
“Next time you miss something Kara, you should let us know and we can try to arrange it for you.”  
“Okay, Kara will.”  
“Now enjoy your ekiben while it's hot.”  
Everyone smiled as Kara carefully began picking pieces out of the pot, and when Honey and Rai approached they received pots of their own, while the twins gave Gere and Freke theirs.

“So, how did it go today?”  
Everyone was curious to get some answers out of Takeshi and Dan about their first day in Japan.  
“It was really good fun, and the car is amazing, You guys did one hell of a job with it. And not just mechanically, it looks awesome too.”  
“You liked the dragon design we picked?”  
Amber was eager to hear Takeshi's opinion on the final design that she and the others had agreed on.  
“It's perfect.”  
There was quite a bit of blushing going around telling Takeshi that the others had been more involved than he had originally thought.  
  


“Can we assume these ekiben mean you started with Gunma?”  
“Yeah, we did. There are four good tōge locations in Gunma, Haruna, Akagi, Myōgi and Usui.”  
He could see Sarah and Maria virtually scratching their heads, looking very confused, and moments later Takara spoke up, blurting out what was probably on all their minds.  
“Isn't Akina in Gunma, or isn't it real like the others?”  
“I see you have been watching Initial D.”  
“Mhm...”  
“Akina is real, but they changed the name of it. The real name is Haruna.”  
“Oh, okay!”  
Takeshi wasn't surprised at the line of questions, Sarah and Maria had both loved watching anime, and Takara was just as bad, and with such a classic anime about Japanese tōge racing they would of course have watched it.  
  


“We will be training during the week, and probably challenge the Myōgi and Usui champions, then come weekend we will challenge the fastest on Haruna and Akagi, which is the same person and he only races on Friday and Saturday evenings.”  
“So you will be back here Saturday morning?”   
“Probably not until after lunch.”  
“Where will you go next?”  
“We will be doing the Kantō region first, then up eastern Tōhoku and back down the western side into Chūbu, cross over Kansai into Chūgoku, then back Kansai and finish up at Hakone back in Kantō.”  
Angel did a quick rundown of their itinerary while displaying the regions, prefectures and tōge locations while she spoke, giving them all a quick geography lesson.  
“We estimate we can clear each region in roughly a month.”  
“So you're only doing the main island?”  
“Yeah, only Honsu unless we receive an interesting challenge. There's a fair chance that we might receive a challenge for a snow rally in Hokkaido.”  
Dan instantly bolted to attention.  
  


“If we do, can I drive it? Please?”  
“Of course, you did some iceracing back in Sweden, didn't you?”  
“Not officially, but I drove a lot on the local lake in the winter. Iceracing is an old tradition, and up north even the kids drive the lakes in the winter. It's how I learned to drive.”  
“Danny, will you teach us to drive on ice?”  
“Of course.”  
All the girls had learned to drive, and had drivers licenses, but for natural reasons they had no winter driving training yet.  
“How about we do that once our cabin in Tromsø is done?”  
Everyone quickly agreed to the plan before trying to pull more details out of the pair.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


One week later Takeshi and Dan found themselves on the Haruna starting line next to a very fancy looking Lotus Elise with flame decals.  
“Angel, could you give us a performance estimate please?”  
“Of course.”  
It only took a few seconds for Angel's sensors to unravel every little secret of their opponent and they could see why it held the records on Haruna and Akagi, the car was heavily modified and would easily outperform all the cars they had seen so far in Gunma.  
“I think it's safe to say we need to switch to full performance for this one.”  
“That would probably be prudent.”  
Angel quickly adjusted the car settings while Aya stepped up in front of them to announce the race and start them.  
  


“_Akai Suisei tai Kuro Ryu!”  
_Takeshi flashed his headlights to signal Aya that he was good to go and moments later the Elise did the same.  
They watched her put her hands out in front of them in a 3 & 9 position.  
_“San!”_  
She raised her hands slightly to a 2 & 10 position as she called out.  
_“Ni!”  
_Her hands raised slightly more into a 1 & 11 position.  
_“Ichi!”  
_With her hands in the 12 position she took one breath, then brought them down sharply in front of her.  
_**“Go!”  
**_

The moment she brought her arms down the race was on and it quickly became obvious that the driver of the Elise was not used to facing opponents with competitive performance as the Elise spat out quite a big cloud of smoke, spinning her wheels before traction caught up and kicked her off the starting line.  
Against an inferior opponent he could afford to lose those few moments at the start as the performance of his car would allow him to catch up, but against Takeshi behind the wheels of the monster that Mandrake had built he did not have that luxury and was quickly in the position of desperately trying to catch up only to see his opponent increase the gap.  
  


“Take! The Elise has crashed!”  
The had just cleared the 3rd of Haruna's famous consecutive hairpins when Angel called out to let them know the Elise was out of the race.  
“Condition?”  
“Vehicle is on fire, high risk for explosion. No bystanders hit.”  
Takeshi instantly did a 180 and headed back to the crash location.  
“Angel, drop emergency warning markers!”  
Indicators on the HUD instantly came to life showing a group of drones launching from the truck and rushing to set up flashing warning lights in case other cars came.  
“Acknowledged. I'm reporting to start and goal as well.”  
There was no answer as Takeshi and Dan bolted from the car and ran over to the burning car, finding the driver unconscious, but as far as they could tell, not seriously injured, the fact that he was knocked out cold was a good thing though.  
The spectators didn't dare get too close so they were able to subtly use their abilities to get the driver out and Takeshi gave him a small amount of his blood to bolster his recovery in case there was an injury he hadn't detected.

“_Kare wa daijōbudesuka?”_  
Takeshi looked up as one of the bystanders came running as they pulled the driver away from the wreck.  
“_Yeah, he's okay, he's just knocked out.”_  
_“Yokatta..!”  
_The relief at the news that the driver wasn't severely injured was obvious.  
_“We should get him to a hospital just in case, and get someone here to tow his car.”_  
By the time the first of the cars from the toll booth reached them they had the driver on the side of the road wrapped in blankets to keep him warm, waiting for him to come to, and most of the spectators had left, not wanting to be there when emergency services arrived.

“I guess we won't be racing him at Akagi tomorrow...”  
Dan huffed slightly, but it was obvious he was relieved as well that their opponent hadn't managed to get himself killed.  
“Yeah, I guess we'll just do a time attack here and at Akagi to beat his records and then head to the next location.”  
Their conversation was interrupted by Aya driving up to their side.  
“You should get out of here. Local police go easy on us but they will try to make an example out of you since you are outsiders.”  
“Don't worry. We have connections that will make sure they don't bother us.”  
“Okay...”  
Aya didn't sound convinced but she did respond well to the calm projected by Takeshi and Dan.  
“Why don't you head over to Akagi if you want to see us do a time attack there? We will wait until the ambulance gets here.”  
Aya considered the suggestion for a moment, then she took off down the mountain pass.

“So, are you going to try to get Aya in your bed tonight?”  
Dan's light teasing as they drove toward Akagi made Takeshi huff at him, then smile and nod.  
“Yeah, I think I will.”  
The reply made Dan tut and teasingly accuse him of corrupting the local youth before agreeing that she was tempting.  
He didn't say any more though and they drove in silence until they reached the starting point of the Akagi tōge where Aya and a few others were waiting and a few minutes later they were ready for a time attack.  
  


“That was a really good time...”  
There was quite a buzz when they returned to the top to meet Aya.  
“Are you going to do a time attack on Haruna as well?”  
“Yeah, we were planning to try to do it tonight then move on tomorrow.”  
A few of the locals quickly volunteered to head back to Haruna and verify their time.  
  


When they returned to the toll booth parking lot they were greeted by a smiling Aya who congratulated Takeshi on a very good time and he took the opportunity to lean in and whisper a very naughty invitation to her.  
The brilliant blush that followed triggered a strong surge of amusement from Dan which made Takeshi flash his fangs at him, then ignore him completely when Aya nodded softly, agreeing to his invitation.  
“Come on, let's head back to the truck.”  
Once the other cars had left they quickly took off and Aya followed them back up to the lake.  
“This truck is better equipped than the garage I use...”  
“Well, we don't trust a regular garage so we need to be able to fix problems ourselves.”  
“She's a prototype, isn't she?”  
Aya looked at the R35 with an almost longing smile.  
“Yeah she is, she's based on an old R35 GTR, but pretty much everything has been replaced with experimental tech.”  
“She's amazing though.”  
“That she is.”  
Takeshi gently nudged Aya toward the front of the truck and the modified cabin.  
  


“You guys both sleep here?”  
Aya looked around the cabin of the truck with a slightly teasing smile.  
“As you probably already suspect we are more than just friends.”  
Takeshi dodged the question as they didn't actually sleep there.  
“But you?”  
“Invited you to share my bed, yes.”  
Aya instantly blushed but she didn't try to leave and didn't seem upset as Takeshi and Dan explained about their lifestyle and relationships.  
“Are you okay with that?”  
Takeshi knew what the answer would be, but he was curious about what Dan's reaction would be in the end, Dan hadn't heard what he actually said to her at the Haruna starting line.  
“Yeah...”  
“I guess that's my cue to go for a walk.”  
Dan huffed with a knowing smile and headed for the door only to find it locked by Takeshi's override command which made him turn around with a confused expression.  
“Aya would be most disappointed if half of her entertainment walks away.”  
“Both of us?”  
Dan's obvious confusion made Aya smile and nod, then turn concerned.  
“You don't want to?”  
Dan instantly broke into a wide smile.  
“I would love to.”

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Stalking Crows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  
  


“And here I thought we were supposed to build a reputation as good racers...”  
Dan mock complained when Takeshi invited yet another young woman to their truck for a bit of fun.  
“We are supposed to be rich American playboys as well.”  
“I know.”  
“You know I won't do anything if you don't approve.”  
“I know that too. I just wish it was Aya.”  
“Indeed, she is good fun.”  
  


Aya had visited them almost daily while they raced in the Kantō region, but once they moved into the northern parts of Tōhoku it was too far for her, she had returned on occasion while they were in Chūbu, and now that they were in the western part of Chūgoku it was nearly 700km away from her home.  
She had quickly grown close to them and they found that she enjoyed watching them just as much as she enjoyed _playing_ with them, and being watched, something they very much enjoyed.  
“You think she will accept becoming a test driver for Mandrake?”  
They had been talking a lot about it and come to an agreement to tell her the entire truth once they had confronted Hiroto.  
“Yeah, I think so.”  
“What about you Angel?”  
“I'm with Take. I think she would enjoy it.”  
  


Their current companions were just temporary fancies though, as their reputation grew they found that Tōge Groupies were very much a thing and there was no lack of willing females to pick from, even the occasional male.  
But as much fun as they were having they were looking forward to reaching their goal and challenging Hiroto.  
Takeshi had felt Hiroto's presence several times among the spectators, and as far as he could tell the charm that camouflaged his aura was working and Hiroto was unaware of who he really was.  
It was vital that they kept that hidden until after challenging Hiroto or it would cause issues with the tengu elders, forcing Hiroto to avoid them.  
  


“Damn, I can hardly believe it's finally time.”  
Dan's aura was crackling with nervous energy.  
“Shouldn't I be the nervous one?”  
Takeshi quipped, trying to calm his beloved Dan down a bit.  
“I can't help it. He was your first love. You were intending to mate him, a tengu, a monogamous life-bond.”  
“I was, buy that was not supposed to be. I had to forget about him so that I would meet you guys. So I could realize my love for you all.”  
Takeshi reached out and brushed his hand against Dan's face before grabbing his hand and entwining their fingers.  
“You know, tengu actually aren't as strictly monogamous as most believe them to be.”  
“I thought they were incapable once their youma made the choice?”  
“Incapable of betrayal, yes, multiple partners, no.”  
Dan gave him a crooked look, then came realization.  
“So if you mate him, he will be able to be with others as long as his youma knows you approve.”  
“Indeed.”  
“That's good to know.”  
Dan's relief was tangible, and Takeshi gave his hand a slight squeeze.  
“You were worried he would be unable to fit in with us.”  
“Yeah...”  
After that Dan fell silent and Takeshi didn't try to engage him in any further conversation.  
  


When they pulled up to the starting area of Hakone it was completely crowded but aerial view from Angels drones showed them the location of Hiroto's matte black R35 and they slowly pulled up as close as they could get.  
“Okay love, go do your thing.”  
“On it.”  
Dan jumped out and walked up to the other car and tapped the tinted driver's window.  
Takeshi could feel the strong surge of emotions from Dan when the window opened and revealed the driver, and the reaction made him smile.  
  


“What can I do for you?”  
Dan blushed slightly as there was no mistaking the flirting tone.  
“Eh...”  
“Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. You're hot and just my taste, but I'm taken.”  
Dan nodded with a weak smile before shaking his head and getting back on task.  
  


“The Dragon wishes to challenge the Crow.”  
He offered the small machine printed note in a polite manner, using both hands and bowing slightly, and when Hiroto took the note with Takeshi's challenge Dan spotted the large crow in the passenger seat.  
“Oh, hello gorgeous.”  
“Hellohello! Hellohello!”  
Dan recognized the sparkling intelligence in the crow's eyes, there was no doubt that this was the hanyou crow, Sora.  
“Well I'll be damned, Sora seems to like you.”  
Hiroto's brilliant smile made Dan blush again and he tried to stay focused as heat quickly rushed down his belly.  
“What do you think Sora, should we accept this challenge?”  
_“Hayaku. Hayaku.”  
_The eager calls of _Faster_ was her only answer.  
“So be it then. Challenge accepted.”


End file.
